THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 

GIFT  OF 
Mrs.    Hugh  G.   Dick 


TEN    TIMES    ONE 
IS    TEN: 

THE    POSSIBLE    REFORMATION, 


Jn  Ctoo  Parts. 

BY 
COL.    FREDERIC    INGHAM. 


BOSTON: 

LITTLE,  BROWN,  AND   COMPANY. 
1904. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1870,  by 

ROBERTS     BROTHERS, 

In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress  at  Washington. 


Copyright,  1S83, 
BY  ROBERTS  BROTHERS. 


UNIVERSITY  PRESS: 
JOHN  WILSON  AND  SON,  CAMBRIDGE,  U.S.A. 


PREFACE. 


nPHIS  little  book  would  never  have  been  writ 
ten,  I  suppose,  but  for  the  persuasion  of 
my  kind  friend,  the  late  Dr.  WAYLAND,  the  Presi 
dent  of  Brown  University.  It  is  nearly  fifteen 
years  ago  that  I  told  him  the  plan  of  this  story, 
if  it  may  be  called  a  story,  expressing  the  wish 
that  some  of  the  masters  would  undertake  to 
illustrate  the  lessons  involved  in  it.  Every  one 
who  knew  him  —  and  how  many  there  are  who 
knew  him  enough  to  love  him  !  —  will  remember 
how  practical  and  how  personal  was  every  notion 
of  the  religious  life,  of  Christian  labor,  and  of 
missionary  triumph,  in  his  mind.  What  he 
thought  the  practical  and  personal  character  of 
my  little  sketch  pleased  him  ;  and  he  was  kind 
enough  to  urge  me  once  and  again  to  enlarge  it, 
and  to  print  it.  I  think  it  is  because  he  wished 
it,  that  I  have  tried  to  do  so. 


5000895 


VI  PREFACE. 

There  are  hundreds  of  people  who  know  that 
the  character  of  HARRY  WADSWORTH  and  his 
unselfish  influence  are  studied  from  the  life 

T  dedicate  the  book  to  those  who  knew  him 
and  loved  him. 


EDWARD  E.  HALE. 


BOOTH  CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCH, 
BOSTON,  Sept.  17,  1870- 


CONTENTS. 


Jirst  Part. 
THE    STORY. 

CHAP.  PAGE 

I.   WHAT  BEGAN  IT 9 

II.   THREE  YEARS  AFTER 28 

III.  TEN  TIMES  A  HUNDRED 46 

IV.  TEN  TIMES  A  THOUSAND 78 

V.   EUROPE,  ASIA,  AFRICA,  AND  THE  ISLES  OF 

THE  OCEAN 90 

VI.    TEN  TIMES  A  HUNDRED  THOUSAND  ...  97 

VII.     THE   CoNFERENZ   AT   CHRISTMAS    ISLAND       .  109 

VIII.   TEN  TIMES  TEN  MILLION 118 

IX.   A  THOUSAND  MILLION                                   .  130 


Seconti  Part. 

HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH  CLUBS. 

NEITHER  SCRIP  NOR  MONEY 157 

STAND  AND  WAIT 203 

HARRY  WADSWORTH  HELPERS 252 

LOOK-UP  LEGION 255 

WELCOME  AND  CORRESPONDENCE  CLUBS      .     .     .  257 

PIONEER  LEGION  WORK 259 

A  GIRLS'  LEGION  260 


FIRST    PART. 


THE    STORY. 


I 


TEN   TIMES   ONE  IS  TttJN. 
CHAPTER  L 

WHAT    BEGAN    IT. 

[A  talk  in  Calabria,  after  dress  parade.] 

SUPPOSE  it  was  the  strangest  Club  that 
ever  came  into  being. 

There  were  these  ten  members  I  tell  you  ol. 
And  they  have  never  met  but  this  once,  nor  do 
I  believe  they  will  ever  meet  again. 

They  met  in  the  railroad  station  at  North 
Colchester,  waiting  for  the  express  train.  The 
express  train,  if  you  happen  to  remember  that 
particular  afternoon  and  evening,  was  five  hours 
and  twenty  minutes  behind  time.  They  knew 
it  was  behind  time,  but  they  had  nowhere  else 
to  go,  and  it  was  then  and  there  that  the  Chit 
was  formed. 

For  they  had  all  come  together  at  Harrj 
Wadsworth's  funeral.  The  most  manly  ano 
most  womanly  fellow  he,  whom  I  ever  knew 


10  TEN    TIMES   ONE   IS  TEN. 

the  merriest  and  the  freshest,  and  the  bravest 
and  the  wisest;  the  most  sympathizing  when 
people  were  sorry,  and  the  most  sympathizing 
when  they  were  glad.  Thunder !  If  I  were  at 
home,  and  could  just  show  you  three  or  four  of 
Harry's  yellow  letters  that  lie  there,  then  you 
wou  d  know  something  about  him.  Simply,  he 
was  the  most  spirited  man  who  ever  stumbled 
over  me ;  he  was  possessed,  and  possessed  with 
a  true  spirit,  —  that  was  what  he  was;  and  so 
he  had  guns  enough,  and  more  than  guns  enough, 
for  any  emergency. 

And  Harry  Wadsworth  had  died.  And  from 
north,  and  east,  and  south,  we  ten  there  had 
come  to  the  funeral.  And  we  were  waiting  for 
the  train,  as  I  said ;  and  that  is  the  way  the  Club 
was  born.  Then  and  there  it  had  its  first  meet 
ing,  and,  as  I  say,  its  last,  most  likely. 

Bridget  Corcoran  may  strictly  be  called  the 
founder  of  the  Club,  unless  dear  Harry  himself 
was.  For  Bridget  Corcoran  was  the  first  person 
that  Baid  any  thing.  I  never  can  sit  still  very 
long  at  a  time  at  such  places.  And  I  had  sat  in 
my  chair  by  that  overfilled  stove,  in  that  stifling 
room,  as  long  as  I  could  stand  it,  and  a  good 


WHAT   BEGAN   IT.  11 

deal  longer,  none  of  us  saying  any  thing.  Then 
1  had  gone  out  and  walked  the  platform,  brood 
ing,  till  it  seemed  to  me  that  any  thing  was  bet 
ter  than  walking  the  platform.  Then  I  went  in 
again  to  find  the  air  just  as  dead  and  stived  and 
insupportable  as  it  was  before.  And  this  time 
I  left  the  door  open  and  walked  across  to  the 
back  window,  which  looked  on  a  different  wood 
pile  from  the  wood-pile  the  front  window  looked 
upon.  I  need  not  say  that  the  only  variety  in 
our  prospects  was  in  our  choice  of  wood-piles ; 
but  we  could  look  at  the  ends  of  sticks,  or  at  the 
sides  of  them,  as  we  preferred. 

I  walked  to  the  back  window,  and  began  look 
ing  at  the  back  wood-pile. 

"  You  knew  Mr.  Wadsworth  ? "  said  Bridget 
Corcoran,  timidly.  And  it  was  a  comfort  to 
me. 

"  Knew  him ! "  said  I ;  "  I  did  not  know  any 
body  else ! " 

"  I  like  to  tell  you  about  him  then,"  said  she, 
with  her  pleasant  Irish  accent.  "  I  like  to  teL 
every  one  about  him.  For,  save  for  him,  I  do 
not  know  where  I  should  be  this  day;  and  I 
do  know  where  my  boy  Will  would  be." 


12  TEN   TIMES   ONE   IS   TEN 

"  How  is  that  ?"  I  asked,  roused  up  a  little  by 
her  sympathy. 

"  Will,  sir,  would  be  in  the  State's  Prison  save 
for  him  you  carried  to  the  grave  this  day ;  ana 
for  me,  I  think  I  should  have  died  of  a  broken 
heart.  You  know,  your  reverence,  that  in  the 
charge  of  the  freight  station,  when  he  was  first 
appointed  here,  it  was  for  him  to  say  who  should 
have  the  chips,  and  who  should  not  have  them. 
And  he  was  so  good  —  as  he  always  was  —  as 
to  give  me  the  second  right  in  the  wood-yard ; 
Mary  Morris  always  having  the  first,  because 
her  husband,  who  is  now  switch-tender,  lost  his 
arm  in  the  great  smash-up  come  Michaelmas 
five  years  gone  by.  He  gave  me  the  second 
right,  I  say;  and  though  I  say  it  who  should 
not,  I  never  abused  my  privilege,  and  he  knew  1 
never  did,  your  reverence,  as  how  could  I,  when 
he  was  always  so  kind,  and  often  called  me  into 
his  office,  and  always  spoke  to  me  as  kindly  as 
if  I  was  a  born  lady,  as  indeed  he  was  a  born 
gentleman." 

Ah  me!  if  I  only  could  go  on  and  tell 
Bridget's  story  as  she  told  it  herself,  with  the 
thousand  pretty  praises  of  dear  Harry,  you 


WHAT   BEGAN    IT.  13 

would  better  understand  what  manner  of  man 
he  was,  and  how  the  Club  was  born.  But  there 
is  no  time  for  that,  and  this  was  the  story  shortly 
Harry  saw  one  day  that  her  eyes  were  red,  as 
she  passed  him,  and  he  would  not  rest  till  he  had 
called  her  into  the  office  and  found  why  ;  and 
the  why  was,  that  her  boy  Will  had  "  hooked 
jack,"  as  the  youngster  said,  —  had  played  tru 
ant,  and  had  done  it  now  for  many  weeks  in 
order,  and  had  done  it  with  the  Tidd  boys,  and 
the  Donegans  (sons  of  perdition  as  they  always 
seemed),  and  nothing  Bridget  could  say  or  do 
would  put  Will  in  any  better  way.  Then  was 
it  that  Harry  sent  for  the  little  rascal,  "  talked  to 
him,"  she  said ;  but  I  knew  Harry  well  enough 
to  know  what  the  talking  was.  He  tcok  the 
boy  up  country  with  him  one  day,  when  he  was 
making  a  contract  for  some  wood.  Ii"  stopped 
a&  they  came  back,  at  a  trout  stream,  and  bade 
tht-  little  scamp  try  some  of  the  best  hooks  from 
hie  book.  He  sent  him  home,  after  such  a 
glimpse  of  a  decent  boy's  pleasures,  as  nobody 
ever  had  shown  poor  Will  before.  He  sent  for 
him  the  next  day,  and  told  him  he  wanted  him 
in  the  office.  He  dressed  the  child  in  new  clothes 


14  TEN   TIMES   ONE  IS  TEN. 

from  head  to  foot.  He  made  him  respect  him 
self,  in  forty  ways  you  or  I  would  never  have 
thought  of.  Before  three  weeks  were  gone,  Will 
was  as  lamed  of  his  bad  handwriting.  Before 
four  weeks  were  gone,  he  was  ashamed  of  his 
old  company;  in  a  fortnight  more,  he  was  the 
steadiest  scholar  in  the  "  Commercial  College  " 
of  the  place.  Before  three  months  were  over, 
he  came  to  Harry  with  some  lame  duck  of  a 
Tidd  boy  whom  he  had  lured  out  of  some  quag 
mire  or  other.  And  the  upshot  of  it  was,  that 
at  this  moment  Will  was  as  decent  a  boy  as 
there  was  in  the  county ;  while,  but  for  Harry, 
he  had  as  fair  chance  as  any  of  them  to  be 
hanged. 

That,  severely  condensed,  was  Bridget  Cor 
coran's  story. 

Now,  I  have  no  idea  of  telling  how  Harry  had 
come  to  be  the  star  of  my  worship,  —  worship 
which  was  not  idolatry.  Talking  here  at  the 
head  of  the  regiment,  how  do  I  know  who 
might  overhear  me,  and  this  is  no  story  to  get 
into  the  newspapers.  But,  while  I  was  reflect 
ing  that  Harry  had  rescued  poor  Will  from 
one  set  of  devils,  and  me  from  devils  of  quite 


WHAT   BEGAN   IT.  15 

anotner  color,  Caroline  Leslie  looked  up.  She 
had  joined  Bridget  and  me  by  the  window. 

"  Do  you  mean  the  Caroline  Leslie  that  gives 
the  bird  the  lump  of  sugar  in  Chalon's  picture  ?  " 

"  Why,  yes !  that  same  Caroline.  Leslie.  Did 
you  know  her  ?  "  She  looked  up.  She  thankee 
Bridget  very  cordially.  "  I  thank  you  ever  sc 
much  for  telling  me  that.  It  has  comforted  me 
more  than  any  thing  to-day.  Will  you  not 
come  and  see  me  sometime  in  Worcester  ?  Yon 
will  find  me  in  907,  Summer  "Street.  Let  me 
write  it  down  for  you."  So  Bridget  was 
pleased.  And  then  Caroline  got  up  and  asked 
me  to  walk,  and  took  my  arm,  and  we  walked 
the  platform  together;  and  she  told  me  what 
Harry  had  been  to  her.  How,  only  three  yeara 
before,  when  he  first  came  to  Colchester,  or  to 
that  village,  how  her  brother  Edward  brought 
him  home,  and  made  her  mother  say  he  might 
board  there.  How  her  mother  said  it  was  im 
possible,  but  consented  the  moment  she  saw 
Hany,  when  he  only  came  in  to  tea.  He  v  she, 
Caroline,  was  a  goose  and  a  fool,  and  a  dolt 
and  good-for-nothing,  when  he  moved  into  that 
aouse.  And  how  the  mere  presence  of  that 


16  TEN   TIMES  ONE   IS  TEN. 

man  in  that  family  —  or  was  it  his  booss,  01 
was  it  the  people  that  came  to  see  him  ?  —  pad 
changed  the  whole  direction  of  her  life,  as  aii 
arrow's  direction  is  changed  when  it  glances  on 
the  side  of  a  temple.  Now,  Caroline  Leslit 
was  no  more  in  love  with  Harry  than  you  are 
Pretty  girl,  she  had  her  own  lover,  and  I  Tuiew 
she  had.  And  he,  far  away  across  the  sea, 
would  shed  tears  as  bitter  as  hers  of  that  day, 
when  he  knew  he  was  never  to  see  Harry's  face 
again. 

But  we  were  only  three  of  the  Club  —  Caro 
line,  Bridget,  and  I.  Count  Will  Corcoran  for 
four  if  you  like.  If  you  count  him,  the  Club  is 
eleven. 

But  what  I  tell  you  will  give  you  an  idea. 
For  as  soon  as  we  got  talking,  the  bakers  and 
the  baked  by  the  stove  got  talking;  all  telling 
much  the  same  kind  of  story,  how  dear  Harry 
had  been  a  new  life  to  them.  Widdifield,  who 
you  would  have  said  had  no  sentiment,  quio* 
Mrs.  Emerson,  Mary  Merriam,  and  her  brolhei 
John,  and  even  Will  Morton.  I  must  not  try  to 
tell  the  storit  5,  though  I  could,  every  one.  We 
all  drew  toge'  ^>er  at  last,  when  something  Mor 


WHAT   BEGAN   IT.  17 

ton  said  drew  out  George  Button  to  "  state  hia 
experience." 

"  Wadsworth  and  I,"  said  he,  "  went  out  in 
one  of  those  first  California  colonies,  —  when 
the  mutual  system  was  tried  in  all  sorts  of  ways, 
and  people  thought  the  kingdom  of  heaven  waa 
coming  because  they  all  put  two  hundred  dollars 
apiece  into  a  joint-stock  company.  On  the  voy 
age  I  did  not  see  him  much,  and  I  know  I  did 
not  like  him.  How  strange  that  seems  now! 
For  there  was  no  reason  under  heaven  why  I 
should  not  have  found  him  out  at  the  very  first 
moment ;  and  now  it  seems  as  if  I  lost  so  much 
in  losing  all  the  chance  of  those  five  months. 
Well,  I  lost  it  —  for  better  or  worse.  We  came 
to  California,  and  the  colony  all  broke  up  into 
forty  thousand  pieces.  Little  enough  sticking 
by  each  other  there!  Each  man  for  himself; 
and,  as  always  happens  on  that  theory,  the  devil 
for  us  all,  with  a  vengeance! 

"  I  roughed  through  every  thing.  Got  a  Jttle 
dust  now  and  then,  and  spent  it  a  great  deal 
faster  than  I  got  it.  I  have  paid  one  hundred 
and  eighty-six  dollars  in  gold  for  a  pair  of  miner's 
boots, —  and  they  were  good  boots,  ~whe*»  1 
91 


18  TEN   TIMES   ONE   IS   TEN. 

had  not  a  rag  beside  to  put  upon  my  feet,  ~l 
last  I  thought  my  lucky  time  had  come.  We 
were  up  in  what  they  then  called  the  Cotton- 
wood  Reach,  and  a  very  good  company  of  ua 
had  struck  some  very  decent  diggings,  and  had 
laid  off  our  claims  with  something  like  precision, 
and  order,  and  decency.  Wadsworth,  as  I  hap 
pened  to  know,  was  with  some  men  who  had 
got  hold  of  a  water-privilege  three  or  four  miles 
above  us.  Some  of  our  men  had  been  up  to  see 
about  buying  some  water  from  him,  and  said  he 
was  quite  a  king  in  that  country.  But  I  had 
not  seen  him. 

"  Then  there  came  in  on  us,  just  as  we  got 
well  established,  a  lot  of  roughs,  blacklegs  and 
rowdies,  of  every  nation  and  color  under  heaven. 
They  wanted  our  claims  ;  we  all  knew  that  well 
enough.  And  they  hung  round,  as  such  d  :vils 
as  they  will,  trying  all  sorts  of  ways  to  g<;t  a 
corner  of  the  wedge  in.  We  were  a  pretty 
decent  set;  and  none  of  our  boys  really  liked 
them,  but  we  were  as  civil  as  we  couk1  be. 
Some  of  the  fellows  were  fools  enough  to  lose 
dust  to  them,  and  I  never  heard  that  any  of  them 
won  any.  They  pretended  to  stake  off  some 


WHAT   BEGAN    IT.  19 

claims  of  their  own,  but  they  never  worked  an)' 
of  any  account.  They  drank  their  whiskey, 
and  put  up  tents  and  shanties  for  gambling; 
and  swaggered  round  among  the  rest  of  us,  and 
said  they  knew  better  ways  for  washing  than  we 
did ;  and  so  on.  All  the  time  we  all  knew  that 
something  was  brewing,  while  they  were  about. 
And  sure  enough,  at  last  it  came. 

"  Watrous  and  Flanegan,  who  were  a  sort  ol 
selectmen  to  ua,  had  to  go  down  to  Agnes  City 
with  some  gold,  and  to  buy  some  pork.  And 
they  took  with  them  two  or  three  of  the  best 
fellows  we  had.  Watrous  came  to  me  the  last 
thing,  and  said,  '  Don't  you  get  into  a  quarrel 
with  these  greasers,'  for  he  knew  I  hated  them, 
But,  Mr.  Ingham,  a  saint  in  heaven  would  have 
quarrelled  with  those  men.  It  all  began  about 
a  shovel.  One  of  these  blackguards  came  up  to 
me  to  borrow  a  shovel,  and  I  let  him  have  it. 
Then  he  came  back  for  another,  and  I  let  him 
have  that.  Then  came  up  three  of  them  and 
wanted  three  shovels ;  and,  to  make  a  long  story 
short,  we  came  to  words  —  they  and  I.  They 
had  come  up  for  a  fight;  and  they  got  it.  At 
ast,  one  of  the  most  noisy  of  them,  —  to  give 


20  TEN   TIMES   ONE   IS   TEN. 

him  his  due,  he  was  half  drunk, — drew  hi* 
revolver  and  snapped  it  at  me.  Lucky  for  me 
it  missed  fire,  and  in  very  short  metre  I  hit  him 
over  the  head  with  the  crow-bar  I  was  using, 
O,  what  a  howl  they  made!  They  dashed  at 
me,  and  I  ran.  The  first  of  them  tripped  and 
fell ;  which  stopped  the  others  a  half  second. 
And  then  the  whole  tribe  of  them,  who  had  been 
watching  the  affair,  came  running  after  me, 
yelling  and  howling  like  so  many  wolves." 

By  this  time,  as  I  said,  Dutton  had  the  whole 
group  in  the  station  round  him. 

"  Did  you  ever  run  for  your  life  ? "  said  he, 
with  a  funny  twinkle  of  the  eye.  "  I  tell  you, 
-  that  to  put  in  the  best  stride  you  know,  and 
to  clear  every  log,  and  take  no  help  at  any  ditch, 
but  just  to  run,  run,  run,  run, —  half  a  mile, — 
three  quarters,  —  and  a  mile,  —  to  feel  your 
heart  up  in  your  throat,  your  lungs  pumping, 
and  pumping  nothing,  —  while  you  just  run, 
mn,  run,  —  and  know  that  one  false  step  ii 
death  ;  —  I  tell  you  that  is  what  a  man  remem 
bers.  That  was  the  way  I  ran.  I  dared  not 
look  back  .  knew  1  was  well  ahead  of  all  but 
one  man  But  T  could  hear  his  steady  step 


WHAT    BEGAN    IT.  21 

step,  step,  step,  —  just  in  the  time  of  mine, 
Was  he  taller  than  I,  or  shorter  ?  I  dared  noi 
look  round  and  see.  But  I  knew  his  stride 
depended  on  that.  He  was  gaining  nothing  oi> 
me  in  time;  was  he  gaining  in  length  of  pace? 

"  Where  was  I  running  to  ?  Why,  to  our 
poor  little  shanty,  where  I  had  left  George 
Orcutt  lame  in  bed.  What  safety  would  that 
bo  ?  These  devils  could  tear  it  down  in  thirty 
seconds.  I  did  not  know,  but  I  ran ! 

"  I  ran  —  with  the  one  man  close  behind,  and 
the  others  yelling  farther  back.  He  did  not  yell. 
He  saved  his  breath  for  running.  But  he  did 
not  catch  me.  I  flung  the  door  open.  I  crowd 
ed  down  the  latch.  I  stuck  a  domino  from  the 
table  in  between  the  latch  and  the  latch-guard, 
and  with  this  as  my  poor  fortress,  I  flung  myself 
on  the  floor.  The  man  dashed  up  after  me,  but 
did  not  so  much  as  try  the  door! 

-  An  instant  showed  why  ;  for  in  ten  seconds 
*he  wolves,  as  they  seemed,  were  howling  round 
him.  Then  the  man,  whoever  he  was,  said, 
'  The  first  man  that  steps  on  this  plank  is  a  dead 
man !  There's  been  enough  of  this  bullying ' 
Dirty  Dick,  take  care  you  are  not  seen  again  i» 


22  TEN   TIMES   ONE   IS   TEN. 

this  county.  I  give  you  six  hours  to  be  gone 
Chip  and  Leathers,  you  had  best  go  with  hirn^ 
or  without  him.  Your  room  is  better  than  your 
company.  I  will  have  the  sheriff  here  by  night, 
and  we  will  see  what  sort  of  men  are  going  to 
jump  claims  on  this  creek.  You  fellow  with  the 
red  beard,  who  ran  away  from  Angeles,  there's 
a  warrant  out  against  you.  Understand  all  of 
you,  that  this  game  is  played  about  through.' 

"Who  was  this  celestial  visitant?  Orcutt 
and  I  listened  in  amazement.  Was  this  the 
way  Raphael  addressed' the  rebellious  spirits 
when  Milton  was  not  at  hand  ?  Any  way,  they 
answered  much  as  the  rebellious  spirits  would 
have  done.  Some  swore,  some  laughed,  other 
some,  on  the  outside,  turned  round  and  vamosed. 
So  Orcutt  told  me,  whose  eye  was  at  a  knot 
hole.  The  celestial  visitant  said  not  a  word 
more.  But  in  five  minutes  the  whole  crew  of 
them  was  gone. 

"  Then  I  unlatched  the  door.  Raphael  came 
in,  and  was  —  Harry  Wadsworth !  Yes :  that 
light,  frail  fellow,  whom  we  carried  so  easily 
to-day,  was  the  man  who  looked  those  beggars  iu 
the  eye  that  day,  and  saved  my  life  for  me ! 


WHAT    BEGAN    IT.  23 

"  That  was  the  beginning  with  me,  and  there 
are  few  things  he  and  I  have  not  done  together 
since  that.  We  have  slept  under  the  same 
blanket,  and  starved  on  the  same  trail.  And 
if  any  man  ever  taught  me  any  thing,  that  dear 
fellow  taught  me  all  of  life  I  know  that  is  worth 
knowing." 

These  were  the  sort  of  stones  we  got  telling 
in  the  station-house,  and  it  was  out  of  such  talk 
that  the  project  of  the  Club  grew.  We  had  not 
known  each  other  before,  but  here  was  one  tie 
we  all  had  together.  Could  we  not  then  recog 
nize  it,  by  some  sort  of  gathering  or  correspond 
ence,  or  union?  Natural  enough  to  propose, 
but  you  see,  of  course,  what  followed. 

First,  Widdifield  —  as  good  a  fellow  as  lives, 
but  set,  or  as  the  vernacular  says,  "  sot,"  in  his 
way»-  — liked  the  idea  of  a  Club  very  much;  but 
thought  we  must  appoint  a  committee  to  draw 
up  some  little  mutual  covenant  or  expression  of 
principles  which  all  the  members  would  willingly 
agree  to.  "  Something,  you  know,  to  give  us 
a  little  substance."  Will  Morton  did  not  care 
BO  much  for  any  statement  of  principles,  but 


24  TEN   TIMES   ONE   IS   TEN. 

thought  there  had  better  be  a  constitution  made. 
If  he  had  not  changed  his  coat,  he  should  have 
had  in  his  pocket  the  constitution  of  the  Philire- 
ncan,  which  would  perhaps  have  served  as  a 
gocd  model.  Mary  Merriam  did  not  care  about 
any  constitution,  but  thought  the  society  ought 
to  have  a  name  that  everybody  would  under 
stand.  Poor  Bridget  Corcoran  did  not  take  in 
much  of  all  this,  but  hated  clubs.  The  Sham 
rock  Club,  that  her  husband  had  belonged  to 
had  worked  all  his  woe.  So  one  thought  this 
and  another  said  that,  and  the  thing  happened 
which,  so  far  as  I  know,  always  happens,  even 
when  ten  of  the  simplest  minded  people  in  the 
world  meet  together  with  any  common  purpose 
There  has  to  be  a  certain  fixed  amount  of  talk, 
—  what  Haliburton  calls  the  "  talkee-talkee 
stage."  It  corresponds  to  the  fizz  of  common 
air  when  you  open  a  gas-pipe  for  the  first  time. 
It  blows  out  your  match,  and  you  have  to  wait 
csome  little  while  before  any  thing  arrives  that 
will  burn. 

One  of  the  Wise  Men  of  the  East — was  it 
Louis  Agassiz  ?  —  said,  when  he  first  came  here, 
that  one  of  the  ama/ing  things  which  he  found 


WHAT   BEGAN   IT.  25 

in  America  was,  that  no  set  of  men  could  get 
together  to  do  any  thing,  though  there  were  but 
five  of  them,  unless  they  first  "  drew  up  a  con 
stitution."  If  ten  men  of  botany  met  in  a  hotel 
in  Switzerland  to  hear  a  paper  on  the  habits  of 
Tellia  Guilielmensis,  they  sat  down  and  heard 
it.  But  if  nme  men  of  botany  here  meet  to 
hear  a  paper  read  on  Shermania  Rogeriana, 
they  have  to  spend  the  first  day,  first  in  a  tempo 
rary  organization,  then  in  appointing  a  committee 
to  draw  a  constitution,  then  in  correcting  the 
draft  made  by  them,  then  in  appointing  a  com 
mittee  to  nominate  officers,  and  then  in  choosing 
a  president,  vice-president,  two  secretaries,  and  a 
treasurer.  This  takes  all  the  first  day.  If  any 
of  these  people  are  fools  enough,  or  wise  enough 
("  persistent "  is  the  modern  word),  to  come  a 
second  time,  all  will  be  well,  and  they  will  hear 
about  the  Shermania. 

This  was  the  little  delay  which  killed  oui 
little  Club  at  the  moment  of  its  birth,  if,  indeed. 
it  were  killed  or  were  born.  With  regard  to 
that  there  is  a  doubt,  as  you  fellows  will  find 
out  if  we  should  ever  get  back  to  this  story 
again. 


26  TEN   TIMES   ONE   IS   TEN. 

[At  this  point,  however,  the  Quarter  Master 
who  had  been  dying  to  say  something,  interrupted 
Ingham  to  say  it  would  have  been  better  if  the 
Club  had  had  something  to  eat,  as  the  organ 
ization  went  forward ;  and  on  that,  that  profane 
Dalrymple  said,  "  Better  something  to  drink." 
But  Ingham  placidly  explained  that  there  had 
never  been  any  thing  at  the  station  but  dough 
nuts,  and  those  somewhat  tough  and  musty, 
and  that  these  had  all  been  eaten  by  members 
who  had  no  dinner;  that  for  supper  there  was 
nothing  left  but  lozenges,  of  which  the  supply 
was  unlimited,  but  of  which  man's  power  of 
consumption  is  of  nature  small.] 

So  we  spent  the  rest  of  our  five  hours  discuss 
ing  the  covenant,  the  name,  and  the  constitution 
of  our  little  society, —  and  when  at  last  we 
neard  the  scream  of  the  express,  and  saw  its 
light,  we  were  further  from  the  organization 
than  ever.  Everybody  looked  for  scrip  and 
staff  (carpet-bag  and  cane).  Everybody  seized 
his  coat  or  his  shawl ;  and  poor  Widdifield  and 
Morton  were  just  heard  pleading  for  a  committee 
to  draw  up  a  constitution,  or  "just  a  little 
formula,  you  know "  when  the  train  stopped, 


WHAT   BEGAN   IT.  2*3 

and  we  stowed  away  as  we  could,  in  the  sepa 
rate  cars. 

For  all  that,  however,  these  people  loved 
Flurry  with  their  hearts'  love ;  and  not  one  of 
them  meant  to  fail  in  the  impulse  he  had  given ; 
no,  nor  ever  did  fail.  And  though,  as  I  said, 
the  Club  never  met  again,  and  never  can,  per 
haps  it  has  existed  to  as  much  purpose.  After 
the  train  was  under  way,  I  passed  along  from 
car  to  car,  and  asked  each  of  them  if  he  would 
not  write  me  some  day,  if  any  thing  turned  up 
which  brought  Harry  to  his  mind,  or  which 
Would  have  pleased  him. 

Everybody  said,  "  Yes."  And  what  is  more, 
everybody  has  done  as  he  said.  So  I  have  thia 
mass  of  letters  you  saw  in  my  desk,  marked 
"  Harry  Wadsworth ; "  and  it  is  that  mass  of 
letters  which  gives  me  the  material  for  the  really 
curious  story,  or  stories,  I  am  going  to  tell  you. 

If  you  will  come  round  to  my  tent  after  the 
parade  is  over,  I  will  show  you  some  of  them. 


CHAPTER   IL 

THBEE    YEARS    AFTER, 
f  What  there  was  in  the  Letters.] 

^  I  "HE  fellows  did  not  come  up  to  my  tent, 
regimental  headquarters,  that  night.  We 
were  on  our  way  up  after  the  parade,  when  pop, 
pop,  pop,  some  red-shirted  pickets  cracked  ofl 
their  rifles,  frightened  by  some  goats  I  believe ; 
for  all  this  happened  in  one  of  the  Calabrian 
Valleys.  The  companies  were  filing  off  to 
supper  as  the  shots  were  heard,  but  halted 
promptly  enough,  and,  in  a  minute  more,  we 
were  all  brought  back  to  parade  again.  I  ordered 
some  kettles  of  polenta  brought  down  for  the 
men  to  eat,  and  we  lounged  and  lay  there,  wait 
ing  news  and  orders  for  a  couple  of  hours.  Then 
it  was  clear  enough  that  the  whole  had  been  a 
false  alarm,  and  I  let  them  go  to  bed. 

But  a  week  or  two  after,  Dalrymple,  who  had 
made  a  good  deal  of  fun  about  the  Club,  came 
round,  and  Frank  Chancy  with  him.  Dalrymple 


THREE    YEARS    AFTER.  20 

knew  that  I  would  not  have  any  nonsense  about  it, 
and  indeed  he  was  quite  in  earnest  himself  when 
he  asked  me  to  bring  out  the  papers  and  tell 
them  more  about  the  Club  and  its  history.  I  told 
him  what  I  tell  you,  that  there  was  no  history : 
there  were  only  these  letters,  nine  of  them  as  it 
happened,  folded  together  and  marked  "  Harry 
Wadsworth."  An  odd-looking  set  they  were. 
A  letter  from  my  wife  Polly,  written  exactly  on 
the  third  anniversary  of  Harry's  funeral ;  letters 
of  all  sizes  and  shapes,  written  on  tappa,  brown 
paper,  white  paper,  all  sorts  of  paper;  stained, 
faded,  and  broken  at  the  edges,  but  all  of  them 
telling  of  the  lives  that  these  nine  of  the  original 
Club  had  been  leading.  Indeed,  when  we  came 
to  look  at  the  dates,  they  were  all  written  within 
a  month  of  that  same  anniversary  of  the  day 
which  we  wasted  together  in  the  station-house, 
called  deepo,  at  North  Colchester. 

The  letters  were :  — 

A..  Dictated  by  Biddy  Corcoran  to  her  son 
Will,  and  in  the  most  elegant  of  clerkly  hand 
writing,  down  strokes  hard  and  up  strokes  fine, 
I  assure  you. 

B.     Caroline  Leslie's  —  she  had  not  changed 


'10  TEN   TIMES   ONE   IS  TEN. 

her  name  in  marrying  her  cousin  Harry,  the 
same  who  gave  her  the  canary-bird.  She  wiote 
from  Cronstadt,  Maine. 

C.  George    Dutton,   written    as   above,   on 
tappa  cloth  from  one  of  the  Kermadeck  Islands, 
in  the  South  Pacific. 

D.  Mrs.    Merriarn, —  quiet,   every-day  letter, 
from  14  Albion  Street,  Brooklyn. 

E.  As  above,  Polly  Ingham's  to  me,  when  1 
was  very  far  off  soundings. 

F.  Widdifield's  —  he    had   accepted  a   place 
as  professor  in  Clinton  College,  Kentucky. 

G.  Will   Morton's  —  he  was  clerk  of  court 
in  Ethan   County,  Vermont;   always  has  been 
clerk  of  court,  as  his  father  was  before  him,  and 
as  his  son  will  be  after  him. 

H.  John  Merriam's  —  book-keeper  he,  with 
Pettingill  &  Fairbanks,  Chicago. 

I.  From  Mrs.  Emerson  —  head  of  a  girls' 
boarding-school  in  Fernandina,  Florida.  And 

had  filed,  in  the  same  file,  a  little  paper  of 
memoranda  of  my  own.  So  there  were  really 
the  autographs  of  all,  save  Mrs.  Corcoran,  of  the 
ten  of  the  Club  which  tried  vainly  to  form  itself 
at  North  Colchester. 


THREE    YEAUS   AFTER.  31 

Ah  !  what  a  pity  it  is  that  I  may  not  print  all 
these  letters,  now  and  here.  If  only  I,  Frederic 
Ingham,  could  be  the  editor  of  a  monthly  mag 
azine  of  my  own !  If  only  I  had  85,555  readers, 
on  the  moderate  estimate  of  five  readers  to  each 
copy  sold,  and  they  were  all  so  prejudiced  in 
favor  of  the  Old  as  to  like  to  read  old  letters,  and 
yet  so  tolerant  of  the  New  as  to  be  willing  to 
read  my  speculations  upon  them !  Then  what  a 
title-page  could  I  not  make  up  from  these  letters 
alone,  for  the  whole  of  a  number,  giving  a 
courteous  refusal  to  all  "  eminent  contributors," 
and  all  good  assistants  not  quite  so  eminent.' 

To  make  our  "  contents  on  cover: "  — 

Biddy  Corcoran's  Home.     By  Herxelf. 

Life  by  the  Furnace. 

The  Kermadeck  Islands. 

Housekeeping.     By  a  Connoisseur. 

Polly  to  Fred. 

Kecollections.     Prof.  Wlddifield. 

Three  Years  of  Life.      W.  Morton. 

The  West  as  I  saw  it.     By  a  Big  Boy. 

A  New  Boarding-school.     Mrs.  Emerson, 

10  x  10  =  100.     Fred.  Ingham. 

There,  is  not  that  a  good  title-page  for  tb« 


32  TEN    TIMES    ONE    IS    TKN. 

outside  of  your  new  magazine?  Would  not 
that  make  Mr.  Horace's  mouth  water,  as  he  drew 
up  his  advertisement  ?  Would  not  those  run 
ning  titles  be  attractive  as  men  opened  the  uncut 
pages?  If!  ah  if  only  I  might  myself  control 
these  MSS.  "  It  must  not  be,  this  giddy  trance." 
I  must  confine  myself  to  the  probable  restric 
tions.  "  Five  thousand  words,  or,  at  the  outside, 
five  thousand  five  hundred  for  a  single  number." 
These  are  the  hated  limits  in  which  I  live  and 
move  and  have  my  hampered  being.  Is  there 
not  some  worthless  epithet  above  which  I  can 
strike  out  ?  Ah  no  !  better  omit  all  Will  Corco- 
ran's  commercial  college  chirography  in  one 
lump,  and  come  without  preface  to  pretty  Caro 
line  Leslie. 

CAROLINE  LESLIE'S  LETTER.     (B.) 

It  is  so  queer  to  see  where  people  will  turn  up 
when  you  least  expect  it  Now  Caroline  Leslie, 
nince  the  funeral,  had  married  her  cousin  Harry, 
the  same,  as  I  said,  who  gave  her  the  canary- 
bird  ;  and  he  had  taken  her  down  to  the  'ron- 
works  at  Cronstadt,  in  Piscataquis  County. 
Pretty  girl,  how  little  she  thought,  when  she  waa 


THREE    YEARS   AFTER.  33 

giving  the  canary-bird  his  sugar,  that  she  was  to 
spend  five  years  of  her  life  in  a  house  just  one 
grade  above  a  log-cabin,  with  two  rooms  on  the 
ground  floor,  and  a  bed  in  her  parlor,  and  — 
which  was  perhaps  the  only  part  of  it  amiss 
—  that  all  her  friends  in  Worcester  were  to  be 
saying  that  it  was  "  so  fortunate  "  that  her  hus 
band  had  such  a  good  position !  Good  position 
it  was,  for  all  the  bed  in  the  parlor.  For  there 
Caroline  and  Harry  first  subdued  the  world 
there  were  her  first  three  children  born ;  and 
there,  as  the  letter  showed,  she  also  had  done  hei 
share  of  Harry  Wadsworth's  work,  in  Harry 
Wadsworth's  way. 

When  they  went  down  there,  it  was  chaos 
come  again,  I  can  tell  you!  An  old  iron-furnace 
which  had  been  built  in  the  most  shiftless  and 
careless  way,  had  made  for  a  year  or  less  some 
iron  of  the  worst  quality,  so  that  the  reputation 
of  the  ore  was  all  lost,  and  had  then  been  left  to 
burn  out.  A  new  company,  with  some  capital 
from  Ibbotsons  or  Tubals,  or  some  sort  of  foreign 
iron  people,  had  gone  in,  and  had  sent  down 
George  Landrin,  who  knew  something  about 
making  iron,  to  redeem  the  reputation  of  the 
8 


34  TEN   TIMES   ONE   IS   TEN. 

place,  and  Harry  Leslie  to  be  treasurer  and 
manager  as  far  as  George  Landrin  was  not. 
Instantly,  as  I  need  not  say,  Harry  Leslie  and 
Caroline  Leslie  were  married.  That  was  the 
firs'*;  link  that  the  new  iron  company  forged,  and 
they  forged  it  without  knowing  that  they  did  so, 
by  appointing  him  assistant  treasurer,  with  a 
salary  of  fifteen  hundred  a  year.  They  were 
married,  went  to  Cronstadt  in  the  first  wagon 
after  the  roads  were  in  any  sort  opened,  and 
lived  there,  thirteen  miles  from  the  next  town> 
in  a  village  of  iron  men ;  theirs  one  of  three 
framed  houses  —  all,  as  I  said,  one  grade  above 
a  log-cabin. 

"  Hajj  any  ssiety  thar  ?  "  said  Mrs.  Grundy  to 
Caroline  one  day  when  I  met  Caroline  at  her 
father's,  where  she  had  come  up  to  Thanksgiving. 
How  Caroline's  eyes  snapped  and  flashed  fire ! 
•'  The  best  society,  Mrs.  Grundy,  I  ever  knew.'' 
And  so  it  was,  indeed,  thanks  to  Leslie,  and 
Landrin,  and  Harry  Wadsworth,  and  the  founder 
of  all  good  society,  the  Saviour  of  all  such  holea 
as  they  found  Cronstadt,  whose  notions  in  this 
matter  Harry  Wadsworth  and  these  fellows  had 
had  the  wit  and  heart  to  follo-v. 


THREE   TEARS   AFTER.  35 

Here  is  the  letter:  — 

"  CEONBTADT,  November  7 

11  DEAR  MRS.  INGHAM  : 

"I  have  never  forgotten  that,  as  we  came 
home  from  Mr.  Wadsworth's  funeral,  I  promised 
your  husband  I  would  some  day  write  to  you 
about  him.  And  though  I  have  put  it  off  so 
long,  I  have  always  meant  to  do  it.  But  you 
know  how  time  goes  by  without  our  putting  pen 
to  paper.  It  was  three  years  ago  that  we  all 
met  there  together.  I  cannot  believe  it 

"  But  to-night  I  am  going  to  write  to  you,  foi 
I  do  not  know  where  your  husband  is,  and  he 
must  take  this  as  a  letter  to  him.  For  I  have 
been  thinking  of  Mr.  Wadsworth  all  day.  I 
think  of  him,  and  of  things  he  used  to  say  and 
do,  a  great  deal  now  we  are  here  in  this  new 
life,  and  I  have  to  try  so  many  experiments,  and 
do  so  many  things  for  the  first  time.  To-day  ia 
Sunday,  and  on  Sundays  I  see  the  working-men 
here  even  more  than  I  do  on  other  days,  and 
they  are  more  disposed  to  talk,  or  perhaps  I  am. 
Harry  has  been  gone  for  nearly  a  week  now,  and 
will  not  be  back  till  next  Saturday,  so  Mr 
Landrin  and  I  and  Sarah  had  to  manage  about 


30  TEN   TIMES   ONE   13   TEN. 

the  tunes  and  singing  as  we  best  could  last  night. 
But  to-day  we  had  stalwart  help,  and  I  wish  you 
had  been  here  to  see  and  hear  our  choir.  We 
stii]  meet  for  service,  as  we  did  when  you  were 
here,  in  the  upper  carpenter's  shop ;  but  yesterday 
Sarah  and  Eunice  drove  the  men  out  just  before 
dark,  and  began  to  dress  the  two  chests  which 
make  the  pulpit  with  colored  leaves,  and  this 
morning  they  completed  their  decoration,  and 
made  quite  a  brilliant  show.  Joe  Deberry,  that 
French  charcoal  man  who  got  you  the  Lycopo- 
dium,  was  very  efficient  and  sympathetic.  Mr. 
Landrin  played  the  flute;  Will  Wattles  read 
part  of  a  sermon  oat  of  the  'Independent;' 
dear  old  Mr.  Mitchell  '  led  in  prayer,'  and  we 
really  had  a  good  time  —  I  did,  and  we  all  did. 

"  When  we  sat  round  talking,  after  the  service, 
on  the  boards  and  the  benches,  and  a  good  many 
outside  in  the  sun,  I  attacked  old  Mrs.  Follett, 
and  won  her  heart  by  asking  her  how  I  could 
dye  some  yarn  I  have  here.  She  has  alwaya 
been  a  little  shy  of  me,  but  she  got  talking  about 
this  place  as  it  was  in  the  old  dynasty. 

**  It  was  hell,  Mrs.  Leslie !  I  beg  your  pardon, 
but  it  was  just  heli  and  nothing  else.'  And 


THREE   YEARS   AFTER.  37 

really,  I  believe  it  was.  When  she  told  me  of 
the  drinking  and  gambling  and  fighting  of  men, 
and  fighting  of  dogs,  and  of  cocks,  and  of  hens 
and  women,  I  believe,  —  of  every  thing  really  that 
could  fight, —  why,  Mrs.  Ingham,  when  she  told 
me  about  what  her  own  husband  was,  who  is 
now  as  nice  a  man  as  there  is  in  the  shop,  and 
what  a  life  she  led  with  him,  I  wondered  whether 
this  were  the  same  world.  She  thought  Mr. 
Landrin  and  Harry  had  done  a  great  deal  more 
han  they  have.  I  am  sure  all  we  could  do  here 
is  very  little.  But  Harry  has  put  his  foot  down, 
and  Mr.  Landrin  has  been  very  willing  to  help ; 
and  they  have  said  that  if  they  and  their  wives 
were  here,  it  should  be  a  decent  place  to  live  in ; 
and  when  I  see  how  happy  and  pleasant  the 
people  are,  and  when  I  think  how  little  I  used 
to  know  about  such  places  and  people  at  all,  I 
thank  God  for  bringing  me  here. 

"  All  the  singers  have  been  up  here  to-night 
practising.  I  wish  you  knew  them  all  as  well  as 
you  learned  to  know  Sarah  and  George  Fordyce 
when  you  were  here.  There  are  some  of  them 
who  have  just  that  sort  of  passion  for  my  Harry 
that  your  husband  has  for  Harry  Wadsworth, 


38  TEN  TIMES   ONE   IS  TEN. 

But  when  they  talk  to  Mr.  Leslie  about  what  he 
has  done  for  the  place,  he  laughs,  and  points  at 
Harry  Wadsworth's  picture,  and  says,  '  Don't 
thank  me, —  thank  him.'  Well,  to-night  ten  of 
them  came  round  to  sing,  and  before  we  began 
they  produced  a  beautiful  frame  for  Harry's 
picture,  and  asked  me  to  let  them  put  it  in,  for  a 
surprise  to  my  husband  when  he  comes  home. 
Then  they  began  to  talk  to  me  about  him,  and  I 
told  them  —  well,  you  know  what  I  told  them. 
And  I  could  see  the  tears  roll  down  George 
Fordyce's  face  as  I  talked  to  them.  And  when 
they  went  away,  he  said, '  We  have  never  known 
what  to  call  this  choir  class.  I  move  it  be 
called  the  Harry  Wadsworth  Club.'  And  they 
all  clapped  their  hands  and  said  it  should  be  so. 
So  after  all,  you  see,  your  husband's  club  ia 
born. 

"  But  I  must  stop.  I  hear  Wally  crying  in 
the  other  room,  —  and  you  know  I  am  my  own 
nurse  now. 

"  Give   my  love   to    Mr.    Ingham  when   you 
write.     Always,  dear  Mrs.  Ingham, 
**  Your  own, 

LESLIE." 


THREE   YEARS   AFTER.  39 

I  like  that  letter ;  I  like  that  woman ;  I  like 
that  place,  Cronstadt;  and  I  like  the  life  they 
lead  there.  But  I  should  not  have  filed  that 
letter,  and  carried  it  to  Italy  and  Sicily  with  me, 
if  the  others  that  came  about  the  same  time  had 
nat  belonged  with  it ;  so  they  all  got  tied  up 
together.  Try  this: — 


PROP.  WIDDIPIELD'S  LETTER,     (p.) 

"  CLINTON  COLLEGE,  BOUKBON  COUWTT, 
KENTUCKY,  November  10 

u  REV.  F.  TNGHAM,  ETC.,  ETC.: 

"  Dear  Sir,  —  In  private  conversation  with  a 
few  of  our  young  gentlemen  here,  I  showed  to 
them  such  of  the  letters  of  our  dear  Mr.  Wads- 
worth  as  I  have  with  me.  They  have  been  very 
much  impressed  by  their  spirit,  freshness,  and 
insight  into  true  life.  Do  you  see  any  impro 
priety  in  my  printing  privately,  say  a  dozen 
copies  for  such  of  these  friends  of  mine  as  I 
think  might  find  advantage  in  them  ?  And 
should  you  be  disposed  to  add  to  them  a  copy 
of  a  letter  you  once  read  to  me,  which  Mr, 


40  TEN   TIMES   ONE   IS   TEN. 

Wadsworth  wrote  to  you  when  he  entered  Into 
he  Polk  and  Clay  canvass  so  honestly? 
"  Very  truly, 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"  INCREASE  WIDDIFIELD." 

You  say  those  two  letters  are  exactly  alike  ' 
Of  course ;  they  are  all  alike.  This  tappa-cloth 
letter  is 'just  like  that  glazed  note-paper  from 
Brooklyn.  Want  to  hear  tappa-cloth  ?  It  is 
not  in  New  Zealandee.  Here  is  the  end  of 
it:  — 

"  It  is  not  true  that  I  am  always  in  scrapes. 
You  say  so,  I  know ;  but  I  do  live  the  steadiest, 
stupidest  life  of  any  eight-day  clock  of  them  all. 
Only  you  do  not  hear  of  that.  It  is  only  when 
I  am  dragged  out  of  the  water  by  the  hair  of  my 
head  that  I  am  put  in  the  newspaper,  or  happen 
to  mention  the  incident,  and  then  you  all  say, 
'  Button  is  always  being  dragged  out  of  the 
vater.'  This  time  it  was  not  metaphorically. 

"  1  had  gone  off  in  the  Monarch,  as  she  took 
our  six  months'  collection  of  be  che-la-mer,  to  sea 
the  last  of  her  officers  and  to  get  them  well  out- 
Bide  the  reef,  and  I  had  with  me  my  own  canoe, 


THREE   YEARS   AFTER.  4X 

and  eight  of  these  native  boatmen.  They  are 
the  best  fellows  in  the  world.  See  if  you  do  not 
say  so  before  I  have  done.  I  bade  the  English 
men  good-by ;  they  lay  to  while  I  jumped  down 
into  my  boat;  and  we  were  off,  and  I  started 
back  for  the  Cannibal  Islands,  all  my  men 
paddling.  Things  looked  a  little  grum  when 
we  started;  there  was  just  the  beginning  of  a 
nasty  Souther,  and,  to  tell  the  truth,  I  stayed  in 
the  captain's  cabin  a  little  later  than  I  meant  to. 
But  the  men  did  not  mind.  I  don't  think  they 
would  mind  if  they  had  been  in  so  many  cocoa- 
nut  shells  with  salt-spoons  to  bale  with.  They 
just  stretched  to  their  paddling,  begged  the  after 
man  to  see  that  I  was  warmly  covered,  and 
oegan  chanting  this  missionary  song, — 

'  Womar  iti  enata  bacha  epoku.' 

How  well  I  came  to  know  that  refrain  before  I 
was  asleep,  and  after!  For  I  did  fall  asleep, and 
*:he  first  thing  I  knew  George  caught  me  by  the 
leg,  dragged  me  awake,  and  showed  me  that  we 
ha^:  come  to  the  breakers.  The  sun  was  down, 
but  it  was  light  enough,  what  with  waves,  and 
phosphorescence,  and  stars,  to  make  the  wildest 
sight  that  ever  you  or  I  looked  upon.  Tnghara. 


42  TEN   TIMES   ONE   IS   TEN. 

the  thing  I  thought  of  was  the  Cotton  wood 
claims,  and  my  run  for  my  life,  and  Harry 
Wadsworth's  appearing  to  the  rescue.  I  knew 
it  would  all  be  over  in  two  minutes.  But  I 
spoke  cheeril :  to  the  men ;  said,  *  All  right,' 
which  is  one  of  their  favorite  words,  had  that 
strange  feeling  come  over  me,  which  I  dare  say 
you  have  felt,  when  one  looks  death  right  in  the 
face  —  the  feeling,  '  Now  I  shall  know  ;'  nodded 
to  George,  who  calls  himself  in  their  pretty  way, 
nia-keiki,'  which  means  foster-brother,  and  said, 
4  God  bless  you '  to  him,  and  the  next  second  we 
were  under  twenty  feet  of  water.  Nobody  but 
madmen  would  have  expected  to  cross  that  reef 
with  that  gale  blowing! 

"  Of  course  I  came  to  the  surface,  and  of 
course  the  curlers  swung  me  over  the  coral  in 
less  than  no  time !  If  only  they  did  not  swing 
me  upon  the  next  ledge  in  lesser  yet !  I  could 
not  hold  out  five  minutes  in  that  swirl  and  spray, 
and  I  knew  I  could  not  But  before  I  had  time 
to  think  much  about  it,  before  I  had  even  a 
chance  to  clear  the  water  from  my  eyes  to  try 
to  see  about  it,  a  strong  wiry  hand  had  ma 
under  the  armpit,  and  I  heard  George's  gentle 


THREE    YEARS   AFTER.  43 

voice  say,  '  All  right,'  and  then  in  their  own 
language  he  went  on  to  tell  me  not  to  be  fright 
ened.  I  was  frightened,  for  the  first  time,  for 
1  thought  I  knew  the  faithful  fellow  could  do 
nothing  for  me,  and  I  was  afraid  he  would  lose 
his  own  life  trying  to  save  mine.  In  much  few 
er  words  T  told  him  so.  But  he  said  just  as 
sweetly  as  before,  '  If  I  die,  you  die ;  and  if  I 
live,  you  live.'  And  just  then  I  began  to  see 
and  near  us,  in  this  hollow  where  we  were, 
between  two  ridges  of  breakers,  was  another  of 
these  loving  creatures,  who  said  just  the  same 
thing,  '  If  I  die,  you  die ;  if  I  live,  you  live.' 

"  Ingham,  I  believe  the  men  saved  me  by  say- 
Ing  that  more  than  by  all  the  wonderful  things 
they  did  in  the  next  half  hour.  It  seemed  to 
me  that  it  would  be  so  mean  if  I  swamped  them 
or  sunk  them,  that  I  stuck  to  my  work  as  I  never 
would  or  could  have  done  had  I  been  alone. 
And  they  —  the  way  they  lifted,  and  pushed, 

and  pulled,  —  the  way  they  towed  me  and  shoved 
\ 

me,  —  if  we  ever  meet,  you  will  laugh  yourself 
to  death  as  I  tell  you,  and  yet  it  was  no  laugh 
ing  matter  then.  All  eight  held  together,  and 
held  by  clumsy,  logy  me.  They  understood 


44  TEN   TIMES   ONE   IS   TEN. 

each  other  by  instinct,  and  they  took  me  in  ai 
they  would  have  taken  in  an  upset  canoe  if  they 
had  found  one  floating  in  the  offing. 

"  In  half  an  hour  I  was  lying  on  the  beach 
here ;  these  loving  fellows  were  chafing  me, 
lomy-lomying  me,  and  rubbing  oil  into  me.  1 
could  not  speak,  but  I  was  alive  and  in  this  world. 

"  And  what  do  you  suppose  was  the  first 
thing  they  did  'he  next  morning.  I  was  asleep, 
as  you  may  imagine,  but  at  sunrise  every  man 
of  them  went  off  in  the  offing,  which  was  calm 
enough  now,  to  hunt  up  what  was  left  of  my 
boat  and  to  bring  her  in.  And  when  I  scolded 
George  for  this,  and  told  him  the  boat  was  not 
worth  the  risk,  he  said  they  knew  I  loved  the 
boat ;  they  knew  I  had  named  the  boat  *  Harry,' 
and  that  my  Harry-boat  was  not  to  be  lost  if 
they  could  save  her.  Fred,  that  was  the  first 
time  I  broke  down.  I  fairly  cried  at  that.  And, 
ever  since,  they  have  called  themselves  the 
1  Harry-boatmen.' " 

You  see  it  is  as  I  said,  they  are  all  the  same 
letter,  only  they  are  written  by  different  hands, 
in  different  inks  on  different  sorts  of  paper. 


THREE    YEARS    AFTER.  45 

Polly  had  tied  them  all  up,  as  they  came  in, 
one  after  another,  for  six  months,  and  labelled 
them  "  Harry  Wadsworth,"  as  you  saw.  Then 
one  day  as  she  went  over  them,  she  was  tempted 
to  count  up  the  people  whom  these  ten  letter- 
writers  told  of,  as  having  got  clew  to  our  en 
thusiasm  about  him. 

Here  were   Caroline   Leslie's   Harry  Wadsworth 

Club 10 

Prof.  Widdifield's  Seniors 12 

George  Button's  Harry-boatmen 8 

John  Merriam's  set 7 

Mrs.  Emerson's  "  first  class  " 11 

Biddy  Corcoran,  Will,  the  Tidd  boys  and  the  Tidd 

boys'  father  and  mother .     .  8 

Mrs.  Merriam's  Sewing  Club  for  Newsboys  ...  13 
Polly's  two  children  and  the  two  servants,  with 

Mrs.  Standish 5 

Will  Morton  and  the  Base-Ball  Club  at  Ethan  ..19 
And  the  men  in  my  own  watch,  the  old  quarter 
master  and  his  son,  and  the  others  who  messed 

with  them,  were I 

Polly  counted  them  up.  There  were  103  in 
aL  But  Biddy  Corcoran  and  Will  Morton  had 
been  counted  in  the  old  Club  of  the  station. 
•*  There  are  101  new  members,"  said  Polly. 
"  Ten  times  ten  is  a  hundred.  And  it  was  only 
three  years  ago," 


CHAPTER   III. 

TEN    TIMES    A    HUNDRED. 
[An  Experience  of  Dalrymple's.\ 

"\  \  7ELL !  we  subdued  the  world  as  we  could 
in  Calabria.  Then  we  returned  to  our 
respective  homes :  Garibaldi  to  his  island,  I  to 
No.  9  in  the  Third  Range,  Frank  Chancy  to 
Sc-ooby,  and  Dalrymple  to  that  truly  English 
nome  in  Norfolk,  which  nothing  had  driven  him 
from  but  the  unrest  of  an  Englishman,  —  some 
lo  gad-fly,  —  and  the  desire  of  seeing  Italy 
righted,  and  Vittorio  on  the  throne  of  Bourbon 
In  these  respective  spheres,  as  assigned  to  us, 
we  did  our  part;  and  I,  for  mine,  embarked  m 
the  manufacture  of  a  new  sphere  and  new 
world,  of  which  no  more  at  present- 
Then  was  it  that  the  parents  of  Dalrymple 
urged  him  to  do  his  duty  to  the  respectable 
Norman  baron  who  founded  his  line,  and  "  settle 
down."  Then  was  it  that  Dalrymple,  seeking 
for  trout  in  a  brook  that  ran  through  the  ances- 


j.'EN    TIMES   A   HUNDRED.  47 

tral  domain,  met  Mabel  Harlakenden,  the  young 
est  daughter  of  a  neighboring  house.  She  waa 
sitting  on  a  mossy  rock,  her  feet  hidden  in  ferns, 
and  reading  "  Coventry  Patmore."  Dalrymple 
-and  she  had  not  met  since  he  broke  her  father's 
window  with  a  horse-chestnut  on  the  day  of 
her  tenth  birthday.  Then  was  it  that  he  intro 
duced  himself  to  her  again,  and  fished  no  more 
that  day,  nor  did  she  read  any  more.  Three 
months  after  was  it  that  in  the  parish  church 
he  gave  her  a  ring.  The  minister  took  the  ring 
and  gave  it  to  Dalrymple,  and  he  then  put  it  on 
the  fourth  finger  of  Mabel  Harlakenden's  left 
hand.  Then  he  was  taught  by  the  minister. 
And  then  they  all  went  home  to  Dalrymple's 
father's  house  to  live  there. 

"  Was  she  a  descendant  of  Mabel  Harlaken* 
den  of  Kent  ?  " 

Yes,  she  was.  Why  do  you  interrupt  ?  That 
has  nothing  to  do  with  the  story,  and  your 
question  took  nine  words. 

Then  Dalrymple  proved  to  be  less  settled 
than  ever.  And  it  proved  that  Mahel  liked 
travelling,  if  it  were  real  travelling,  just  as  much 
fts  he.  She  hated  P?ris,  so  did  he.  He  hated 


f8  TEN   TIMES    ONE   IS   TEN. 

Baden-Baden,  —  lucky  for  her,  —  so  did  she 
He  had  fished  all  Norway,  so  had  she.  She 
had  hob-nobbed  with  bandits  in  Calatria,  so 
had  he.  Had  she  ever  been  to  America  ?  — 
"No,  dearest,  no!"  Would  she  like  to?  He 
had  a  friend  in  America,  who  would  put  them 
through,  —  a  man  who  was  with  him  in  Calabria. 
There  was  nothing  Mabel  would  like  better.  So 
instead  of  "  settling  down,"  as  good  Mr.  Charles 
Dalrymple  had  expected,  these  young  people, 
three  months  after  marriage,  took  passage  in 
the  Europa,  Captain  Leitch,  arrived  in  Boston, 
stopped  at  Parker's,  took  the  evening  boat  to 
Hallowell,  train  next  day  to  Skowhegan,  and  in 
two  days  more  were  laughing  and  talking  at  our 
table  at  No.  9,  in  the  Third  Range. 

The  prettiest  English  girl  I  ever  saw  was  Ma 
bel, —  is  Mabel,  let  me  say,  as  she  is  not  here 
to  frown.  Dalrymple  got  his  wooden  bowl  that 
tiite.  No!  I  will  not  describe  her.  You  should 
have  asked  him,  if  you  wanted  to  know.  And 
Mabrl  and  he  fished  in  our  brooks,  guided  by  my 
Alice  and  Paulina,  who  in  their  way  were  aa 
good  fishermen  as  he. 

One  night,  as  we  sat  together,  Dalrymple  said 


TEN   TIMES   A   HUNDRED.  49 

"  Will   you   show   my   wife   those  Wadsworth 
Papers  ?  " 

"  Do  show  them  to  us,  Mr.  Ingham,"  said  the 
pretty  girl.  "  Horace  has  told  me  about  them 
once  and  again,  —  they  were  the  very  first  things 
1  knew  of  you." 

Well  pleased,  I  produced  the  papers-,  and 
showed  them  all  I  have  shown  you,  and  more. 
Then  we  fell  talking  together  about  Harry,  and 
the  Leslies,  and  Dutton,  and  all  these  people 
and  Polly  raked  out  more  letters,  which  I  have 
not  pretended  to  show  you,  telling  how  they  had 
all  fared  in  the  three  years  which  had  gone  by 
Since  she  tied  those  nine  or  ten  together.  Then 
Dalrymple  asked  if,  in  America,  people  always 
shot  apart  from  each  other  as  all  of  us  had  done, 
—  here  was  Harry,  born  in  Maine,  to  die  in 
Massachusetts;  here  was  I,  born  in  Connecti 
cut,  living  in  Maine ;  here  was  Dutton,  born  in 
Massachusetts,  drowning  off  the  Kermadeck  Is* 
lands.  Was  it  always  so  ?  And  I  told  him  the 
census  would  tell  him  that  in  1860  there  were 
near  seven  hundred  thousand  people  in  Iowa, 
where  in  1850  there  were  not  two  hundred  thou 
sand  ;  that  the  other  five  hundred  thousand  were 
4 


50  TEN   TIMES   ONE   IS  TEN. 

boin  somewhere;  and  that  the  same  year  there 
were  one  hundred  and  twenty-six  thousand  peo 
ple  who  had  been  born  in  Maine,  who  were 
living  in  other  States,  while  only  four  times  that 
number,  men.  women,  and  children  who  were 
oorn  in  Maine,  were  living  there.  I  suppose 
that  half  the  men  and  women  had  emigrated. 
"  Happy  country,"  cried  Dairy mple,  where  no 
man  settles  down  !  " 

Then  Mabel  suggested  to  him  that  as  they 
had  110  plan  of  tiavei,  as  it  would  be  fatal  if  they 
should  settle  down  in  No.  9,  which  they  seemed 
ikely  to  do,  he  could  have  no  better  clew  to  fol 
low  in  this  labyrinth  of  States  than  the  thread  of 
thfl  very  letters  he  had  in  his  hands.  "  You  love 
Harfy  Wadsworth,"  she  said,  "  as  well  as  any 
one  can  who  never  saw  him.  I  am  sure  I  do." 
And  her  great  blue  eyes  were  full  of  tears.  "  Let 
us  go  and  see  Mrs.  Emerson  in  Brooklyn,  —  I 
am  sure  dear  Mrs.  Ingham  will  give  me  a  lette 
to  her;  you  shall  go  to  Vermont,  —  is  that  the 
name  ?  —  and  see  Mr.  Morton  ;  we  will  both  go 
to  Chicago,  —  which  till  I  heard  you  speak,  Mr. 
Ingham,  I  always  called  Chickago,  —  and  Harry 
Wadsworth  shall  introduce  us  *o  America." 


TEN   TIMES  A    HUNDRED.  51 

And  so  it  was  ordered.  They  stayed  with  us  a 
month  longer.  I  will  not  tell  how  many  trout 
they  caught,  for  I  should  have  every  cockney 
scared  from  the  Adirondacks  down  on  No.  9  if  I 
did.  But  at  last  the  good-byes  came,  and  they 
started  on  their  way. 

No !  I  shall  not  write  the  history  of  their 
travels.  Little  Mrs.  Dairy m pie  may  do  that 
herself,  and  I  wish  she  would.  I  have  only  to 
tell  where  they  crossed  Harry  Wadsworth's  track 
again. 

Dalrymple  chose  to  take  boat,  instead  of  rail, 
west  from  Buffalo.  So  they  sailed  one  evening 
in  the  Deerhound,  a  famous  boat  of  those  days> 
and  their  first  experience  of  the  floating  palace 
of  the  western  waters.  Sunset,  twilight,  evening 
of  that  June  day,  were  as  beautiful  as  hearts 
could  wish,  and  again  and  again  this  young 
bride  and  bridegroom  congratulated  themselves 
that  they  had  forsworn  the  train.  When  bed 
time  came,  Horace  led  Mabel  in  from  the  guards 
where  they  had  been  watching  the  moon  ;  but 
before  they  went  to  their  state-room  after  mid 
night,  they  stopped  to  watch  some  euchre-play 
ers  who  were  sitting  up  late  in  the  great  saloon 


WJ  TEN   TIMES   ONE   IS  TEN. 

Aa  they  sat  there,  the  captain  lounged  in.  They 
knew  him  by  sight ;  he  had  done  the  honors  at 
the  tea-table.  He  came  up  to  the  table,  and 
said,  "  Gentlemen,  I  want  you  to  come  forward, 
and  see  this  schooner  on  our  quarter."  Mabel 
took  her  husband's  arm  to  go  with  him  ;  but  the 
captain  said,  "  No,  madam,  it  is  too  damp  for 
you ;  we  will  not  keep  your  husband  long,"  and 
with  the  other  men  walked  away. 

Horace  stayed  —  how  long  —  one  minute  or 
ten  —  Mabel  does  not  know.  But  when  he  came 
back  it  was  very  quickly,  and  he  said  in  a  low 
tone  to  the  three  women  who  sat  together  around 
the  deserted  table, "  The  boat  is  on  fire ;  dress  the 
children,  and  wake  the  passengers  as  quietly  as 
you  can.  Mabel,  wait  for  me  in  the  after-part 
of  the  saloon  below  this.  I  will  come  to  you 
there."  And  he  was  gone. 

Mabel  was  probably  never  so  completely  her 

>wn  mistress  in  her  life.  She  saw  that  the 
.saloon  was  as  yet  uninvaded.  She  called  the 
sleepy  chambermaids,  and  gave  them  their  mes 
sages  so  calmly  that  they  were  not  frightened, 

?"rom  state-room  to  state-room  she  passed  along, 
ad  knocked  up  the  sleepers,  till  her  share  waa 


TEN   TIMES   A    HUNDRED.  53 

done,  and  well  done.  Then  she  went  to  their 
own  state-room,  took  the  travelling-sack  in  which 
Horace  had  his  money  and  his  letters;  went 
downstairs  to  the  after  saloon,  to  wait  there  as 
she  was  bidden. 

All  this  time  it  was  amazing  to  her  that  there 
was  so  little  noise.  The  engines  were  stopped, 
That  she  noticed.  She  heard  the  men  at  work 
forward,  but  forward  was  far,  far  away.  If  she 
listened,  she  did  not  know  what  were  the  noises 
she  heard, —  plashes;  heavy  blows  as  of  cutting 
timber;  plashes  again,  —  an  occasional  sharp 
word  which  she  did  not  understand,  but  around 
her  the  still  monotone  of  the  saloon,  in  which 
there  were  only  herself  and  two  little  girls  and 
their  mother.  And  how  long  this  lasted  Mabel 
did  not  know. 

But  at  last  the  smoke  came.  Something  — 
bulkhead  or  what  —  I  do  not  know  —  something 
gave  way  forward,  and  the  smoke  came,  driving, 
piling  right  in  upon  them,  so  that  those  hateful 
lamps  which  had  been  so  still  and  dear  and  un 
conscious,  became,  of  a  sudden,  dim  spots  in  fog 
The  children  cried  and  coughed.  Mabel  and 
their  mother  held  them  to  the  open  windows. 


54  TEN   TIMES   ONE   IS   TEN. 

But  this  could  not  last, —  the  smoke  was  leu« 
ser  and  denser ;  the  women  dropped  the  children 
out  on  a  pile  of  cordage  that  was  coiled  up 
in  the  narrow  passage-way  behind  the  cabin, 
then  clambered  out  of  the  windows  themselves^ 
and  in  that  narrow  passage,  cramped  between 
the  cabin  wall  and  the  after-railing,  stood  alone 
with  the  little  ones.  Then,  for  the  first  time,  she 
understood  that  some  freak  of  the  fire  had  cut 
her  off  from  the  main  body  of  the  passengers 
and  from  her  husband.  Or  were  they  four 
together  there,  the  only  persons  living  out  of  all  ? 
No !  somebody  was  alive  forward,  for  although 
for  a  few  minutes  the  air  was  almost  clear,  that 
lasted  only  for  a  few  minutes ;  —  the  fire  was 
gaining  forward,  and  of  a  sudden  the  engines 
began  to  move  again.  The  other  woman  said  to 
Mabel,  "  They  are  driving  her  ashore."  "What 
ever  was  the  reason,  it  seemed  fatal  to  therr 
The  stream  of  hot  air  and  hot  smoke  now  circled 
all  round  them,  so  that  indeed  they  could  scarcely 
breathe.  Mabel  looked  over  the  rail,  and  so  did 
the  poor  mother.  They  could  see  the  projecting 
after  timbers  and  the  rudder-head  passing  through 
hem,  —  they  must  do  something,  —  and  without 


TEN   TIMES   A    HUNDRED.  55 

a  word  Mabel  climbed  down,  stayed  herself 
firmly  by  one  of  the  cross-chains  which  she 
found  there,  connecting  with  the  rudder,  observed 
that  neither  chain  nor  rudder  moved  any  longer, 
and  then  bade  the  other  woman  pass  her  one 
of  the  children,  and  come  down  herself  with 
the  youngest,  which  she  did.  How  long  that 
lasted,  Mabel  did  not  know,  —  whether  it  was 
five  miles  or  five  minutes  that  they  rushed  ove* 
that  foaming  sea,  with  that  hot  air  above  them, 
with  this  slippery  foothold  below,  and  her  arma 
growing  so  tired  as  she  held  child  and  chain. 
Not  so  long  but  she  did  hold  on,  however,  till  of 
a  sudden  a  sharp  explosion  forward  taught  them 
both  that  a  crisis  had  come.  In  a  moment  more 
the  way  of  the  boat  was  checked,  and  in  two 
minutes  Mabel  saw  that  all  was  still,  —  but 
the  fire.  Still  that  did  not  drift  fiercely  back 
upon  them  now. 

Nobody  came  near  them.  Probably  nobody 
could  come.  But  when  that  horrible  wend 
motion  over  the  foam  stopped,  Mabel  was  brav 
er  As  for  the  other  woman,  she  never  showed 
sign  of  terror  from  the  beginning.  Mabel  no\v 
found  she  could  lower  herself  enough  to  sit  upon 


56  TEN   TIMES   ONE   IS  TEN. 

the  top  of  the  rudder,  and  stay  herself  by  a  chain 
above.  She  did  not  dare  climb  up  upon  the 
boat  again ;  she  then  got  the  child  in  her  arms, 
and  moved  out  far  enough  to  make  room  for 
the  other  woman.  And  there,  with  cinders  and 
smoke  flying  over  their  heads,  in  water  to  their 
armpits,  holding  by  rod  and  chain  above  +hem, 
each  with  a  child  embraced,  —  there  those  women 
sat,  it  must  have  been  for  hours.  I  remember 
Mabel  told  me  she  had  to  wet  the  rod  above  her 
with  the  water  at  last,  when  the  fire  from  the 
wreck  above  heated  the  rod  so  that  she  could 
ir*t  hold  it  in  her  hand.  She  trained  the  child 
to  splash  water  up  to  it  so  as  to  keep  it  cool. 

Meanwhile  all  they  could  see  was  flame  and 
smoke  in  volumes  borne  high  in  the  air,  but 
away  from  them,  by  the  gentle  wind,  as  the  fire 
slowly  worked  its  way  along  to  them.  All  they 
could  hear  was  the  roaring  of  the  flames. 

But  flames  and  smoke  were  borne  away  from 
them-  The  wreck  was  drifting  and  drifting 
crvarer  and  nearer  to  the  Ohio  shore.  And  so 
in  the  gray  morning  the  end  came.  It  ground 
ed.  Mabel  had  seen  the  stars  grow  pale,  it  had 
seemed  to  her  that  "the  dawning  gray  would 


TEN   TIMES   A    HUNDRED.  57 

never  dapple  into  day,"  but  it  was  lighter,  —  light 
enough  for  her  to  see  the  shore,  —  and  then  one, 
two,  three  little  boats  pushing  towards  them. 
A.nd  then  for  the  first  time  these  women  spoke 
louder  than  their  breath,  and  the  little  children 
cried  aloud  again  with  them.  The  cry  did  little, 
I  suppose,  but  a  white  handkerchief  did  more. 
Swift  and  straight  a  flat-boat  dashed  down  to 
them,  a  boat-hook  struck  in  the  stern-timber 
above  Mabel's  head ;  two  men  in  the  bows 
clutched  the  two  women ;  and  some  one  cried, 
"  Back  her,  back  her,"  and  they  and  the  two 
children  were  safe. 

They  took  them  to  the  kindest,  loveliest,  poor- 
est  home  in  Ohio,  which  was  just  behind  the 
beach.  Tender  hands  undressed  those  women 
and  children,  chafed  their  swollen  arms  and 
hands,  rubbed  them  warm  and  dry,  dressed 
them  in  the  best  the  cabin  had,  laid  them  on 
homespun  sheets,  as  clean  as  they  were  coarse. 
And  all  four  slept,  —  as  you  never  slept. 

When  Mabel  awoke  just  before  nightfall,  and 
tried  to  make  out  where  she  was,  wondering  at 
the  slabs  above  her  and  around  her,  at  the  walla 
papered  with  Frank  Leslie's  journal,  the  only 


68  TEN   TIMES   ONE   IS   TEN. 

thing  her  eye  lighted  on,  that  she  ever  sav» 
before,  was  the  portrait  of  Harry  Wadsworth. 
That  was  pinned  upon  the  door. 

This,  then,  was  what  Mabel  had  taken  the 
ring  on  her  finger  for;  what  she  had  left  her 
father's  house  in  Norfolk  for ;  what  she  nad 
started  to  see  the  world  for !  To  find  herself 
lying  in  these  coarse  homespun  sheets,  on  that 
queer,  high,  creaking  bedstead ;  looking  Harry 
Wadsworth's  picture  in  the  face ;  opening  her 
fingers  to  see  if  she  could  open  them,  after  all 
that  clinging  to  the  rod  and  chain  ;  and  trying, 
by  such  foolish  things  as  that,  to  keep  herself 
from  asking  where  Horace  was  —  if  he  were  in 
this  world  or  in  another ;  where  his  body  was  — 
ah  !  how  wretched  —  and  what  she  should  do  ? 
To  pretend  to  drive  these  questions  out  of  her 
head,  she  opened  and  shut  her  hands,  and  won* 
dered  if  the  rust-stains  would  ever  wash  off,  anc 
looked  at  her  wedding-ring,  and  remembered  the 
parish  church  and  that  winter  morning  when 
Horace  put  it  there.  It  was  not  in  that  way 
that  she  would  forget  asking  where  he  was,  01 
if  he  was  in  this  world  or  another ! 

Mabel  sat  up  in  the  bed.    Every  thing  seemed 


TEN    TIMES   A    HUNDRED.  69 

terribly  still.  She  looked  round  the  little  room 
There  was  not  a  shoe  or  stocking  on  the  floor 
nor  any  of  her  clothes  on  the  one  wooden  chair. 

«  Alice  ! "  cried  Mabel  at  last.  For  "  Alice  " 
was  the  only  name  she  knew  of  all  the  people 
who  had  surrounded  her  in  these  terrible  hours. 
They  had  called  the  little  girl  "  baby,"  though 
she  was  four  or  five  years  old.  The  children 
had  called  their  mother  "  mother,"  and  "  Alice" 
was  the  ohly  name  that  had  been  spoken. 

Alice  did  not  come,  but  in  her  place  a  nice, 
motherly  old  lady  came,  who  looked  almost  as 
different  from  anybody  Mabel  had  ever  seen 
before  as  if  she  had  been  one  of  Button's  Ker- 
madeck  men.  But  there  was  the  touch  of  nature 
there,  and  Mabel  and  she  were  kin. 

"  Dear  child,"  said  the  old  woman,  "  cannot 
you  sleep  any  more  ?  Do  you  feel  at  all  rest 
ed  ?" 

u  Have  they  heard  from  my  husband  ?  "  said 
Mabel,  "  have  any  more  people  been  brought  in  ? 
are  there  any bodies  ?  " 

"  Bodies  ?  Dear —  no,  no,"  said  Mrs.  Morrow ; 
"  do  not  be  troubled  about  the  others  ;  there  are 
plenty  of  people  to  take  care  of  them,  and  they 


60  TEN   TIMES   ONE   IS  TEN. 

with  their  own  boats  too.  Do  not  think  about 
them,  dear,  and  do  not  cry  ;  let  me  bring  you  a 
cup  of  tea,  and  then  you  shall  have  your  clothes 
and  dress  yourself.  The  men  will  be  back  to 
supper,  and  we  shall  know  all  the  news." 

"  But  tell  me,"  said  Mabel,  "  tell  me  where  I 
am,  and  where  I  can  write  to  ?  What  must 
I  do  ?  I  never  was  alone  before.  I  never  had 
to  do  any  thing  before  —  like  —  like  this,  you 
know." 

"  Like  what,  my  dear  lady  ?  —  like  taking  a 
cup  of  tea  —  or  like  dressing  yourself?"  And 
Mrs.  Morrow  would  not  stop  for  an  answer. 
There  was  a  good  deal  of  dry  common-sense  in 
Mrs.  Morrow,  who,  after  sixty  years  of  emigra 
tion,  of  a  new  home,  of  birth,  life,  and  death,  of 
joy  and  of  sorrow,  was  no  longer  a  fool.  She 
was,  therefore,  without  knowing  it,  a  philoso 
pher.  "  Come,  Amandy-Ann,"  she  cried,  bust 
ling  back  into  the  kitchen  sitting-room,  "come, 
Amandy-Ann,  where  are  you  9  Here's  the  Eng 
lish  lady  awake  again,  and  nigh  faint  for  her 
tea." 

"  How  did  she  know  that  I  was  an  English 
woman  ? "  said  Mabel  to  herself.  She  forgot 


TEN   TIMES   A    HUNDRED.  61 

that  if  Mrs.  Morrow  had  turned  up  at  the  Swaff- 
ham  station  in  Norfolk  near  her  father's  house, 
and  had  asked  her,  Mabel,  the  way  to  Cockley, 
she  would  have  known  that  Mrs.  Morrow  wad 
an  American,  though  she  only  spoke  ten  words, 
u  I  must  get  up  and  do  something,"  said  Mabel 
to  herself  again  ;  "  but  how  can  I  get  up  till  they 
bring  me  my  clothes  ?  " 

So  they  succeeded  in  keeping  her  prisoner  for 
a  long  hour,  while  she  "  worried  down  "  the  tea, 
and  ate  a  slice  of  toast,  and  tried  to  eat  a  slice 
of  corn-bread,  which  was  new  to  her,  and  broke 
an  egg,  as  Mrs.  Morrow  had  never  seen  an  egg 
broken  before.  When  she  had  pretended  to  eat 
a  part  of  the  egg,  Mrs.  Morrow  relented  so  far 
as  to  let  Amanda  Ann  bring  in  some  dry  cloth 
ing,  and  so  to  emancipate  Mabel  from  her 
prison. 

The  men  came  home.  An  early  tea  was  served 
—  a  meal  such  as  Mabel  never  saw  before.  The 
men  were  cheery,  though  with  no  grounds  intel 
ligible  for  cheeriness.  But  they  explained  that 
there  were  schooners  which  had  run  by  Huron, 
ana  a  certain  brig  which  was  known  to  be  beat- 
uig  up  to  St.  Clair,  and  two  freight  boats  and  a 


62  TBIN    TIMES   ONE   IS  TEN 

flat  which  were  bound  down  the  lake,  and  much 
more  than  poor  Mabel  could  understand,  any  of 
which  alone  could  have  rescued  all  the  Deer- 
hound's  people,  if,  as  no  man  permitted  himself 
to  doubt,  they  were  all  in  their  quarter  boats 
Indeed,  they  could  rescue  themselves.  How 
many  hundreds  of  thousands  this  cheerful  fleet 
might  rescue  if  it  were  combined  in  one,  Mabel 
was  too  downcast  to  inquire. 

Poor  girl !  she  put  this  and  that  together  so 
far  as  to  make  out  that  we,  far  away  in  No.  9, 
in  Maine,  were  the  only  people  in  America  near 
enough  to  her  for  her  to  confer  with,  and  she 
asked  Elnathan  Morrow  eagerly  if  he  could 
not  send  a  telegram  to  us  from  her.  Of  course 
he  could.  He  would  "  hitch  up  "  at  once  and 
drive  over  to  Elyria  and  leave  the  despatch,  so  it 
should  go  the  first  thing  in  the  morning.  So 
Mabel  wrote :  — 

I  am  safe.  But  I  do  not  know  if  Horace  is.  Wo 
ware  in  the  Deerhound. 

MABEL  DALKYMPLK, 
To  Frederic  Ingham, 

No.  9.  in  the  Tliird  Range,  Maine. 
By  Skowhcgau. 


TEN   TIMES   A   HUNDRED.  63 

Mabel  knew  en<  ugh  to  know  that  a  telegram 
must  be  short.  But  she  was  not  much  used  to 
money  yet,  poor  girl,  and  she  did  not  know  that 
as  the  Western  Union  Telegraph  Co.  coins  it, 
that  despatch  cost  Elnathan  every  cent  of  ready 
money  he  had  laid  up  to  pay  his  taxes  witn  tho 
next  week.  But  if  he  had  not  had  the  money, 
Mrs.  Morrow  would  have  sent  her  three  tea 
spoons  to  the  watch-maker  at  Elyria  rather 
than  have  that  message  delayed.  Elnathan  rose 
from  table  before  the  rest  of  them,  harnessed 
up,  drove  to  Elyria,  and  the  next  morning  the 
Elyria  "  Democrat "  announced  that  it  stopped 
the  press  to  say  that  four  more  persons  had  been 
rescued  from  the  conflagration,  a  young  English 
lady,  and  her  companion,  the  mother  of  two 
children,  who  were  with  her ;  and  that  "  all  these 
persons  were  now  resting  at  the  mansion-house 
of  our  estimable  fellow-citizen,  Elnathan  Mor 
row,  Esq.,  who  has  favored  us  with  this  infor 
mation." 

After  Elnathan  had  left,  poor  Mabel  did  her 
very  best  not  to  be  unsociable.  Her  companion 
on  the  wreck  was  still  sleeping  off  the  strain,  in 
the  same  bed  with  her  two  children 


64  TEN    TIMES   ONE   IS  TEN. 

"  Do  you  know,"  said  Mabel,  "  that  the  first 
thing  I  saw,  when  I  opened  my  eyes,  was  the 
face  ot  a  friend  ?  At  least  I  call  him  a  friend." 

"  Friend  ?  "  said  Mrs.  Morrow,  troubled  for  a 
moment  with  the  fear  that  the  pretty  English 
girl  was  wandering.  "  Who  did  you  see  ?  " 

"  Oh !  "  said  Mabel,  "  I  only  meant  I  saw  his 
picture  —  Mr.  Wadsworth's  picture." 

"  Did  you  know  Harry  Wadsworth  ?  "  cried 
the  old  lady,  and  every  one  else  at  the  table  said 
in  the  same  instant,  substantially  the  same  thing. 

Mabel  explained  that  she  had  never  seen  nim 
herself,  and  at  once,  an  air  of  disappointment 
showed  that  no  one  else  at  the  table  had  ever 
seen  him.  But  Mabel  said  to  the  youngest  girl 
that  if  she  would  bring  the  little  travelling-bag 
which  had  hung  at  her  side  all  through  the  night, 
she  would  show  her  something.  So  the  bag  was 
brought  from  behind  the  stove,  and  Mabel  found 
that  the  key  still  turned  in  the  rusted  look  She 
pulled  out  a  wet  handkerchief,  rusty  scissors,  the 
sloppy,  stained  bit  of  canvass  work  that  she  had 
been  stitching  on  the  afternoon  before  —  was  it 
yesterday  afternoon  or  was  it  not  sometime  in 
the  last  century  ?  —  and  down  at  the  bottom  she 


TEN   TIMES   A    HUNDRED.  65 

came  to  a  mother-of-pearl  card-case,  which  had 
stood  the  whole,  undiluted.  Mabel  wiped  it  dry, 
opened  it,  looked  a  moment  at  another  picture 
which  was  not  stained  nor  even  wet,  and  from 
behind  that  picture  pulled  out  her  picture  of 
Harry  Wadsworth.  It  was  the  last  thing  that  I 
gave  her,  except  my  blessing,  when  she  left  us  at 
No.  9. 

And  then  she  explained,  and  they  explained. 
None  of  them  had  ever  seen  Harry  in  the  flesh. 
But  here  was  Mabel  who  had  seen  me,  who  had 
seen  him,  and  she  had  seen  letters  that  he  wrote, 
and  if  her  trunk  were  ever  found,  in  her  port 
folio  she  had  a  note  of  his  that  I  had  given  her. 
And  they  —  they  knew  about  him.  Mrs.  Elna- 
than  Morrow  —  the  pale,  thin,  pretty  young 
woman,  the  mother  of  the  baby,  the  one  that 
had  said  so  little,  but  had  been  frying  the  cakes 
all  supper-time,  —  she  came  from  Ethan,  in  Ver 
mont.  Her  brother  Samuel  was  one  of  the  Will 
Morton  Base  Ball  Club ;  and  she  had  first  met 
Elnathan,  if  she  would  have  told  the  truth,  at  a 
reading  club  at  Ethan,  where  Will  Morton  read 
"  Monte  Cristo "  and  "  Lady  Geraldine "  to 
them.  And  her  pale  face  flushed  at  last,  and 
6 


66  TEN   TIMES   ONE   IS   TEN. 

her  silence  thawed,  and  she  did  leave  the  grid* 
die  at  last  and  came  and  sat  at  the  corner  of 
the  table,  as  she  warmed  up  to  tell  how  Will 
Morton  laid  down  the  book  one  night,  and 
talked  to  them  all  about  Harry.  And  of  course 
she  told  many  stories  of  him,  which  I  cannot 
repeat  here ;  and  then  Mabel  got  to  telling  some 
stories  that  I  had  told  her.  And  Celia  felt  as  if 
Mabel  and  she  were  old  friends,  and  told  her 
more  about  Will  Morton,  and  about  their  life  in 
Ethan,  and  about  the  Base  Ball  Club,  and  about 
her  brother  Sam,  who  had  gone  to  Minnesota. 
She  told  about  her  own  marriage,  and  how 
strange  it  seemed  to  her  to  come  out  here ; 
and  Mabel  learned  that  between  Ethan  in 
Vermont,  and  the  southern  shore  of  Lake 
Erie,  there  was  as  much  difference  as  between 
Cockley  in  Norfolk  and  Ethan  in  Vermont; 
she  learned  that  she  was  not  the  only  girl  tLat 
had  left  her  father's  house  to  find  a  strange,  very 
strange  home.  If  Harry  Wadsworth  had  never 
done  any  thing  else,  he  had  made  sisters  of 
those  two  women.  So  they  all  talked  and  talked. 
Just  after  the  June  sunset  the  youngest  children 
slipped  in  with  two  great  bowls  of  beautiful 


TEN   TIMES   A   HUNDRED.  67 

Btrawberries,  and  Mabel  ate  from  these  as  she 
talked,  almost  unconsciously.  The  fire  in  the 
stove  went  down,  the  griddle-cakes  grew  cold, 
and  it  was  dark  when  their  long  croon  was  inter 
rupted,  as  Mrs.  Palmer,  Mary's  companion  in 
fortune,  opened  the  kitchen  door  and  came  in 


Horace  ?  He  had  been  knocked  on  the  head, 
as  he  was  at  work  on  the  forward  deck,  very 
early  in  the  business.  Some  one  in  the  pilot's 
box  hove  an  axe  forward  to  the  mate,  who  had 
called  for  it.  Horace  was  stepping  across  hastily, 
the  axe  struck  him  in  the  forehead,  knocked  him 
down,  and  he  lay  there  senseless.  The  water, 
leaking  from  the  hose  that  they  were  working 
with,  dribbled  down  on  his  face  sometimes,  but 
nobody  could  stop  to  nurse  him. 

But  when  the  game  was  played  through, 
when  the  last  quarter  boat  hauled  up  under  the 
bow  of  the  Deerhound,  and  the  mate  for  the  last 
time  came  on  board,  and  said  to  the  captain, 
a  You  must  come  now,  sir,  there  is  not  a  living 
cat  on  the  vessel,"  the  captain  pointed  to  Horace 
as  he  lay  there,  and  said,  "  Silas,  we  will  heave 
him  down,  too.  Perhaps  there's  life  in  /lira 


68  TEN  TIMES   ONE   IS  TEN 

Whether  there  is  or  not,  it  shan't  be  said  that 
the  only  two  English  people  in  the  boat  went  to 
the  bottom.  Handsome  fellow  he  is!  "  And  the 
captain  took  Horace  by  the  shoulders,  and  Silas 
took  him  under  his  hips  and  carried  the  senseless 
body  to  the  opening  in  the  rail;  they  called  two 
firemen  who  stood  on  the  thwarts  and  handed  it 
down,  and  laid  it  along  as  best  they  could,  on 
the  after  thwart  and  in  the  hollow  behind  it. 
Then  the  boat-hooks  shoved  her  off,  and  the  boat 
followed  the  others. 

"  Them  women,"  said  Silas,  meditatively, 
"  must  have  stifled  in  ten  minutes  after  he  sent 
them  there.  What  on  airth  made  him  tell  them 
to  go  into  the  ladies'  saloon  ?  " 

Horace  was  not  killed.  Else  these  pages  were 
not  here.  The  captain  never  believed  he  was 
killed.  As  soon  as  the  men  gave  way  at  the 
oars,  and  the  boat  was  well  off  the  wreck,  the 
captain  cut  off  the  waist  buttons  of  Horace's 
clothes,  laid  bare  his  breast,  untied  his  neck-cloth, 
and  again  and  again  flung  water  in  his  face,  as 
he  lay  in  the  arms  of  that  good-natured  German, 
who  was  wondering,  perhaps,  if  this  were  the 
usual  mode  of  travel  in  America.  In  fifteen 


TEN   TIMES   A    HUNDRED.  69 

minutes  the  muscular,  full-blooded  young  Eng 
lishman  opened  his  eyes ;  in  three  more  he  was 
wondering;  then  he  shook  himself  free,  sat  up, 
put  his  hand  to  his  head,  looked  round,  and 
began  to  ask  questions. 

The  burning  Deerhound  could  still  be  seen,  and 
in  reply  the  captain  pointed  her  out  to  him  far 
astern.  Then  how  boldly  the  captain  lied,  as 
the  poor  wretch  asked  after  Mabel !  You  would 
have  thought  Mabel  was  in  a  Lord  Mayor's 
barge  upon  the  Cydnus,  lying  upon  cushions, 
fanned  by  Cupids  and  rowed  by  Naiads,  so 
emphatic  were  the  captain's  assurances  of  her 
comfort  and  safety,  —  assurances  which  Horace 
was  just  stupid  enough,  with  the  blow,  to  believe. 
He  grew  faint  again  with  his  effort,  needed  a 
little  of  the  Jamaica  the  captain  gave  him,  and 
sank  back,  with  his  eyes  blurred  and  his  head 
spinning,  on  the  German's  shoulder. 

Then  it  was  that  the  second  botch  was  made 
in  the  proceedings  of  that  night.  The  boats 
•Were  all  pulling  for  Huron,  against  a  neavy 
western  breeze  which  was  freshening  into  a  gale. 
The  captain's  boat  was  the  last  of  the  little 
squadron,  which  was  pulling  in  order  —  it  musi 


70  TEN   TIMES   ONE   IS   TEN. 

be  near  twenty  miles  —  that  they  might  not  risk 
the  beaching  business  with  that  heavy  sea  on. 
By  daybreak  the  others  were  all  safe,  and  \vere 
telegraphed  as  safe  all  over  the  country,  while 
the  same  telegram  reported  that  the  captain's 
boat  was  not  heard  from,  and  that  two  women 
and  two  children,  and  an  Englishman,  name  not 
known,  had  gone  down  in  the  Deerhound.  This 
botch  all  resulted,  because,  as  the  captain's  boat 
slowly  followed  the  others,  they  crossed  the  line 
of  the  little  Canadian  brig  which  was  beating 
across  the  lake  back  and  forth,  working  her  way 
home  from  Buffalo  to  Amherstburg.  It  was  a 
natural  thing,  of  course,  to  answer  her  friendly 
hail,  a  very  natural  thing  to  run  alongside,  a 
natural  thing  to  take  the  line  her  skipper  threw, 
a  natural  thing  to  go  on  board,  all  of  them,  and 
to  take  the  boat  in  tow.  Then  as  towards  morn 
ing  the  gale  did  freshen,  and  they  had  to  stay  on 
board,  it  was  natural  to  stay.  But  because  o* 
all  this,  so  natural  at  every  step,  when  in  the  fog 
of  the  next  day  she  went  ashore  and  bilged  on 
Pelee  Island,  and  they  all  crawled  to  land  in  wet 
jackets,  that  was  a  pity.  That  was  the  reason 
that  for  four  days  Horace  though*  his  wife  was 


TEN   TIMES   A   HUNDRED.  71 

Jh  heaven  ;  and  that  for  three  of  those  same  foui 
days  she  was  more  and  more  sure  he  was  there. 
But  Horace  also  fitted  off  his  telegram  to  No 
9,  in  the  Third  Range.  And  his  telegram  worked 
through  rather  faster  than  hers,  though  it  started 
later.  The  two  arrived  at  Skowhegan  the  same 
night.  And  one  express  messenger  was  started 
or  No.  9  in  the  morning  with  the  two.  The 
weak-minded  brother  neglected  to  bring  any 
newspaper  with  him,  so  that  all  that  Polly  and  I 
knew  was  in  these  words :  — 

We  were  in  the  Deerhound.  Mabel  is  lost.  Ad 
dress  Detroit.  HORACE  DALRYMPLE. 

And  in  these,  as  above, — 

I  am  safe.  But  I  do  not  know  if  Horace  is.  We 
were  in  the  Deerhound.  MABEL  DALRYMPLE. 

What  the  Deerhound  was  or  where  they  were, 
we  did  not  know.  But  Mabel's  despatch  was 
dated  Elyria  and  Horace's  was  dated  London, 
(J.  W  ;  and  we  knew  that  C.  W.  did  not  mean 
West  Centre  of  the  real  London,  but  Canada 
West  of  the —  new  one. 

Poor  souls!  Lake  Erie  was  between  them,— 
and  neither  knew  if  the  other  were  alive. 


72  TEN   TIMES   ONE   IS   TEN. 

We  gave  the  boy  his  supper,  fed  his  horse 
well,  admonished  him  to  bring  a  newspaper 
another  time,  and  started  him  back  with  the 
return  despatches :  — 

Your  husband  is  well.     Address  him  at  Detroit. 

F.  INGHAJI. 
Your  wife  is  well.     Find  her  at  Elyria. 

F.  ING  DAM 

And  with  hopes  that  they  would  not  go  Evan- 
gelining  and  Gabrielling  it  all  over  the  Western 
country  till  they  died,  we  went  to  bed,  still 
wishing  the  boy  had  brought  a  newspaper, 
and  wondering  what  had  happened  to  the 
Deerhound. 

Mabel  got  that  despatch  the  third  night,  so 
she  slept  comfortably  and  happy.  Two  days 
still  it  was  before  she  had  any  thing  but  the 
telegram  to  live  upon ;  but  the  telegram  was 
enough,  and  good  Mrs.  Morrow's  chicken  fixings 
and  strawberries  and  "  young  Hyson  "  all  helped 
a  little.  And  they  fitted  off  poor  Mrs.  Palmer, 
and  little  Alice  and  "  baby,"  for  Philadelphia. 
She  thought  she  might  as  well  go  to  Philadelphia 
as  anywhere.  And  at  last,  five  days,  I  believe, 
after  the  night  of  horrors,  Horace  came  up  be- 


TEN   TIMES   A    HUNDRED.  73 

hind  Mabel,  as  she  sat  in  the  piazza  with  Celia's 
baby  in  her  arms,  put  his  brown  hands  on  her 
two  cool  cheeks,  bent  over  and  kissed  her,  upside 
down  !  And  Mabel  did  not  faint  away  ! 

The  next  morning  Dalrymple  wrote  to  me  at 
considerable  length,  giving  some  hint  of  the 
story  I  have  been  telling,  and  of  his  plans  for 
refitting  himself  and  his  wife.  Here  is  the  end 
of  the  letter:  — 

"  While  all  this  goes  forward  we  shall  stay 
here,  knowing  where  we  are  well  off.  Poor 
Mabel  really  is  at  home  here  with  these  nice 
people,  who  are  just  what  you  would  call  clever 
—  as  kind  as  they  can  be.  Do  you  know,  as 
soon  as  she  opened  her  eyes,  she  saw  Wads- 
worth's  picture,  and  it  proved  that  the  waves  had 
flung  her  upon  one  more  of  what  she  calls  the 
Harry  Wadsworth  homes.  And  I,  —  before  this 
poor  skipper  I  tell  you  of  and  I  had  talked  five 
minutes  on  the  logs  there  on  Pelee  Island,  watch* 
ing  his  little  vessel  as  she  ground  *o  pieces,  I 
found  he  was  one  of  Wadsworth's  men !  What 
io  you  think  of  that?  He  was  a  rough  cus 
tomer,  but  when  I  said  something  sympathetic 


74  TEN   TIMES   ONE   IS   TEN. 

about  the  loss  of  the  vessel,  he  answered  as 
cheerfully  as  a  bird,  evidently  knowing  that  it 
was  all  right.  I  told  him  he  was  a  philosopher. 
1  No,'  he  said,  very  simply,  handing  rne  back  my 
pipe  from  which  he  was  lighting  his,  '  it  is  not 
nr  philosophy,  it  is  my  religion.  But  I  don't 
like  to  call  it  so.  Our  notion  is  that  a  man  had 
better  not  talk  much  about  his  religion,  certainly 
had  better  not  think  at  all  about  saving  his  soul. 
We  think  he'd  better  do  what  he  can  to  save 
other  people's  souls,  or  if  he  isn't  strong  that 
way,  save  their  bodies,  or  keep  them  from  the 
devil,  some  way ;  and  forget  he  has  any  soul 
himself,  if  he  can't  do  better.' 

"  Only  think,  Ingham,  of  my  hearing  sucti 
words  of  wisdom  out  on  a  fresh-water  beach, 
that  did  not  know  enough  to  have  the  tide  rise. 
'Who  do  you  mean  by  "we"?'  I  said.  'Oh,' 
said  he,  a  little  nervously  this  time,  '  a  little  set 
of  us,  who  don't  care  to  make  any  noise  about 
our  club ;  we  call  ourselves  Harry  Wadsworth'a 
men.' 

"Ingham,  I  started  as  if  I  had  been  shot 
Then  I  was  afraid  for  a  minute  I  was  not  right 
in  my  head,  after  this  dig  the  axe  had  given  me, 


TEN   TIMES   A   HUNDRED.  75 

But  it  was  quite  clear  that  the  man  and  the  iake 
and  the  logs  were  there,  and  I  questioned  him 
further.  He  made  no  secret  of  it;  there  were 
thirty  or  forty  of  them  who  had  arranged  to  get 
together  sometimes,  in  Detroit,  to  help  each  other 
as  well  as  they  could,  in  their  charities,  which 
he  represented  as  mere  nothings,  but  which  I 
found  afterwards  were  what  the  world's  people 
would  make  quite  a  fuss  about,  mostly  among 
emigrants  and  sailors.  This  man,  Woodberry, 
said,  as  simply  as  he  said  every  thing  else,  that  it 
was  the  only  way  he  had  ever  experienced  religion ; 
that  his  father  and  mother  were  religious  people, 
and  he  had  a  brother  who  was  a  Baptist  minis 
ter;  but  that  he  did  not  make  much  of  their 
notions  or  their  way,  but  that  these  Wadsworth 
people  pulled  him  through  a  hard  turn  once  when 
they  found  him  sick  in  a  sailor  boarding-house, 
and  he  had  found  since  that  their  religion  proved 
a  very  good  religion  for  him. 

"  When  we  passed  through  Detroit,  he  took 
me  round  to  one  of  their  meetings.  It  had  some 
of  the  fuss  and  form  that  you  and  I  have  seen 
at  lodge,  and  division,  and  communication  meet 
ings  all  the  world  over ;  but  it  had  a  perfectly 


76  TEN   TIMES   ONE   IS   TEN. 

healthy  tone,  was  true  as  truth,  and  tremendous* 
ly  energetic.  There  was  no  vow  of  secrecy,  but 
great  unwillingness  to  get  into  the  newspaper. 
When  I  showed  my  picture  of  Wadsworth,  I 
ecame  quite  a  hero.  They  were  glad  to  hea? 
of  the  founder  of  their  club  from  one  side  more. 
Remember  that,  till  that  moment,  I  was  in  the 
clothes  I  swam  ashore  in.  What  should  you 
say  if  I  told  you  that  it  was  the  President  of 
the  Harry  Wadsworth  Club  who  introduced  me 
to  the  Detroit  banker  who  honored  the  draft  on 
New  York,  in  which  I  am  at  this  moment 
dressed,  and  with  which  I  am  shod  and  hatted. 
So  much  for  the  photograph. 

"  They  have  told  me  of  three  or  four  other 
clubs  somewhat  like  their  own.  But  I  do  not 
think  there  is  any  effort  made  to  form  clubs.  It 
is  rather  an  accident  as  people  drift  together.  I 
found  they  knew  all  your  story  of  the  meeting 
at  the  funeral,  what  you  call  '  Ten  times  one  ia 
ten.'  Some  of  them  were  friends  of  Morton's, 
some  of  them  had  known  Professor  Widdifield'a 
scholars.  They  had  a  printed  list  of  the 'origi 
nal  ten,'  as  they  called  them.  I  showed  them 
Mrs.  Ingham's  calendar  of  the  one  hundred  and 


TEN   TIMES   A    HUNDRED.  77 

one  people  who  had  had  their  lives  lifted  up,  and 
made  less  selfish  in  their  different  ways,  a?  that 
man's  central  influence  extended.  That  pleased 
them ;  they  had  not,  for  instance,  known  any 
thing  about  the  Kermadeck  Islands,  nor  what 
had  become  of  you  or  Mrs.  Emerson.  I  showed 
them  Mrs.  Emerson's  letter  to  me,  and  told  them 
about  my  visit  to  Mrs.  Merriam.  And  then  one 
of  the  statistical  brethren  proposed  a  count, 
whereat  a  more  godly  brother  quoted  Scripture 
and  explained  about  David's  census.  None  the 
less  did  they  count  up  the  people  they  knew  and 
I  knew  who  this  day  count  Harry  Wadsworth 
as  personal  friend,  personal  comforter,  adviser, 
and  help  to  them.  Ingham,  there  were  one 
thousand  and  twenty-three ! 

"  I  will  write  you  again  before  we  leave  here. 
The  house  has  but  three  rooms,  but  they  make 
Us  very  comfortable.  Mabel  needs  rest,  and  haa 
to  get  clothed  again. 

"  Truly  yours,  H.  D." 

I  read  that  letter  to  Polly,  and  she  said,  "  Ten 
times  a  hundred  is  a  thousand.  It  was  only  six 
years  ago." 


CHAPTER   IV. 

TEN  TIMES  A  THOUSAND. 

HPHE  Harry  Wadsworth  Club,  which  first  met 
in  the  North  Colchester  station,  had  enlarged 
itself,  in  six  years,  without  knowing  it,  —  and 
without  trying  to  enlarge,  —  to  a  thousand  mem 
bers.  They  did  not  know  each  other's  names,  - 
and  there  were  not  many  of  them  who  cared  to. 
They  had  a  great  many  different  constitutions. 
Some  were  clubs  for  singing,  some  were  sewing- 
schools,  some  were  base  ball  clubs ;  and  this 
rather  formal  one  at  Detroit,  upon  which,  by  good 
luck,  Horace  Dalrymple  had  stumbled,  had  offi 
cers,  —  a  president,  secretary  and  records,  and  all 
that  All  you  could  say  of  these  thousand  people 
was  that,  in  six  years,  the  life  of  that  young  rail 
road  freight-agent  had  quickened  their  lives,  had 
made  them  less  selfish,  and  less  worldly.  They 
lived  more  for  each  other  and  for  God,  because 


TEN   TIMES   A   THOUSAND.  79 

he  had  lived,  and  they  knew  that  he  had  ren 
dered  them  this  service.  They  showed  their 
knowledge  of  it  in  different  ways,  or  some  of  them 
perhaps  did  not  speak  of  it  at  all.  Some  of  the 
younger  and  more  demonstrative  ones  had  secret 
breast-pins  with  H.  W.  in  a  cypher  on  them. 
Some  of  the  others,  like  the  Morrows,  had  Har 
ry's  picture  framed  and  hanging  on  the  wall. 
Some  of  them,  like  me,  carried  it  in  their  hearts, 
and  needed  no  bit  of  paper. 

But  as  I  say,  in  six  years  the  ten  had  multi 
plied  to  a  thousand  by  as  simple  a  process  aa 
this,  — 

10  X  10  =  100.     100  X  10  =  1000. 

And,  at  this  fascinating  point,  alas !  I  must 
leave  the  detail  of  the  story.  Indeed,  as  you  see, 
I  have  had  to  leave  it  already.  Of  these  thousand 
lives,  I  have  told  the  story  of  only  four  or  five, 
and  only  a  very  little  part  of  that.  If  anybody 
should  tell  the  story,  it  would  be  Horace  Dai 
ry  m pie,  who  with  his  pretty  Mabel  travelled  up 
and  down  America,  backwards  and  forwards, 
as  the  Harry  Wadsworth  people  advised  him, 
sent  him,  or  invited  him,  for  three  years  and 
more,  after  that  horrible  night  on  the  Deerhound, 


SO  TEN   TIMES   ONE   IS  TEN. 

They  saw  a  great  deal  of  beautiful  scenery,  and 
I  dare  say  they  "  were  shown  "  —  as  the  penny- 
a-liners  love  to  say  —  a  great  many  "  institu 
tions."  They  came  out  in  the  South  Park  in 
the  Rocky  Mountains ;  and  they  went  to  the 
Middle  Park  and  to  the  North  Park.  I  do  nd 
know  where  they  did  not  go.  But  they  did  not 
travel  to  see  "  institutions."  They  did  not,  in  the 
first  instance,  go  to  hunt,  or  to  fish,  or  to  make 
sketches.  They  went  where  one  of  Harry  Wads- 
worth's  men  sent  them  to  another.  They  went 
from  prince  to  peasant, —  you  would  say, —  only 
there  is  never  a  peasant  nor  a  prince  west  of  the 
Atlantic,  nor  east  of  the  Pacific.  They  went 
from  cabin  to  palace,  and  from  palace  to  cabin 
So  they  saw  what  so  few  travellers  see, —  the 
home  life  of  the  people  here. 

These  persons  they  visited  did  not  sit  in 
groups,  with  their  best  clothes  on,  talking  about 
Hairy  Wadsworth.  Not  they!  A  great  many 
of  them  did  not  speak  his  name  in  a  year,  may 
be  did  not  think  of  him  for  a  month.  "  It  waa 
not  that,"  said  pretty  Mabel  to  me,  when  she 
was  fresh  from  this  Sinbad  life,  —  "the  freema 
sonry  of  it  was  that  you  found  everywhere  a 


TEN   TIMES   A   THOUSAND.  8J 

cheerful  out-look,  a  perfect  determination  to 
relieve  suffering,  and  a  certainty  that  it  could 
be  relieved,  —  a  sort  of  sweetness  of  disposition, 
which  comes,  I  think,  from  the  habit  of  looking 
across  the  line,  as  if  death  were  little  or  nothing ; 
and  with  that,  perhaps,  a  disposition  to  be  social, 
to  meet  people  more  than  half  way." 

Thus  spoke  the  little  Englishwoman  ;  and  1, 
in  my  analytical  way,  used  to  the  inevitable 
three  heads  of  the  sermon,  said  to  myself,  — 
"  Humph,  that  is  Mabel's  translation  of  faith, 
hope,  and  love." 

Horace  and  Mabel,  after  their  three  years' 
journey,  had  found  us  living  in  South  Boston. 
We  were  sitting  after  dinner  one  day  on  the 
wood-shed  behind  the  house,  which  served  us  as 
a  piazza,  when  Horace  laid  down  his  pipe,  and 
asked  me  if  I  remembered  explaining  to  him 
the  way  in  which  people  dispersed  over  the 
United  States,  —  so  that  the  census  shows  that 
each  State  is  made  up  from  the  children  of  all 
I  had  forgotten  it,  but  he  recalled  it  to  me. 

"  That  was  what  first  set  me  on  this  journey,'* 
eaid  he,  "  which  has  carried  us  so  far.  Now  the 
queer  thing  about  it  is,  that  it  is  no  special  law 
6 


82  TEN   TIMES   ONE   IS   TEN. 

of  your  country,  this  dispersion  and  radiation ;  it 
is  a  law  of  all  modern  civilization." 

"  Of  course  it  is,"  said  I. 

"  Of  course  it  is,"  said  he.  "  Here  is  this  Con 
necticut  pinmaker."  And  he  took  out  from  hii 
pocket-book  a  bit  of  green  paper,  evidently  torn 
from  a  paper  of  pins,  on  which  the  man  said 
t'jat  he  was  "pinmaker  for  the  people  of  the 
United  States,  and  for  exportation  to  all  parts  of 
the  world."  "  Now,  that,"  said  Horace,  "  is  wha 
you  call  a  piece  of  buncombe ;  but,  for  all  that 
it  is  true.  The  old  statement  is  true,  that  if  you 
import  into  Russia  a  bottle  of  champagne  or  a 
piece  of  broadcloth,  you  import  liberal  ideas 
there  as  truly  as  if  you  imported  Tom  Paine 
Commerce  is  no  missionary  to  carry  more  o 
better  than  you  have  at  home.  But  what  you 
have  at  home,  be  it  gospel  or  be  it  drunkenness, 
commerce  carries  the  world  over.  As  what's- 
his-name  said,  the  walking-beam  of  Livingstone  a 
steam-launch  preached  as  well  as  Livingstone, 
and  a  good  many  more  people  heard  it." 

"It  would  not  have  said  much  if  Livingstone 
had  not  been  there,"  said  I,  a  little  emstilv. 

"  Don't  be  sore,  padre,"  said  Horace.     "  No- 


TEN   1IMES  A   THOUSAND.  83 

Dody  said  it  would.  But  you  see  Livingstone 
was  there.  That  is  just  what  I  am  saying.  And 
there  are  Livingstones  all  over  this  world,  who 
are  not  acquainted  with  the  Royal  Geographical 
Society.  As  we  came  on  from  New  York  last 
night,  after  Mabel  turned  in,  I  got  out  this  note 
book,  and  I  added  up  the  number  of  men  and 
women  who  belong  to  these  different  Wadsworth 
clubs,  who  have  travelled  or  settled  in  different 
parts  of  this  world.  Just  look  at  them." 

Sure  enough  I  found  Horace,  —  who  was 
always  a  better  acting  adjutant  than  he  was  any 
thing  else,  —  true  to  his  nature,  had  entered  in 
close  columns,  forty  lines  to  a  page,  the  people 
that  any  of  the  Harry  Wadsworth  people  re 
garded  as  being  really  in  earnest  in  relieving  the 
suffering  of  the  world,  and  getting  the  world  out 
of  the  mud.  "  There's  a  sort  of  law  of  average 
about  it,"  said  Harry.  "  Every  now  and  then 
a  member  dies.  Then  I  make  a  red  star,  —  so, 
against  him.  But,  on  the  average,  you  find  that 
every  working  man,  or  especially  every  working 
woman  in  one  of  these  lodges,  or  clubs,  or  sing 
ing-schools,  is  represented  at  the  end  of  three 
years'  time  by  ten  persons  whom  he  has  started 


84  TEN   TIMES   ONE   IS   TEN. 

on  a  better  kind  of  life  than  he  was  leading 
belore.  When  I  was  with  these  people  at  De 
troit  after  I  got  my  head  knocked  open,  we 
counted  up  a  little  more  than  a  thousand,  of 
what  they  called,  in  their  stately  way,  '  affiliated 
members.'  Your  wife,  here,  was  one  of  thur 
*  affiliated  members.'  But  I  have  got  here,  now, 
—  in  three  years'  more  time,  —  see  here,"  —  and 
he  turned  over  page  after  page  of  his  crowded 
note-book.  At  the  end  was  i  rough  count  — 
10,140.  "  That  is  what  three  y  3ars  have  made 
of  one  thousand  and  twenty-three,  so  far  as  we 
know.  Of  course,  a  great  many  of  them  are 
wholly  out  of  our  sight." 

Little  Pauline,  who  is  an  enthusiast  about 
Harry  Wadsworth,  though  she  never  saw  him, 
clapped  her  hands  with  delight,  as  Horace  said 
this,  and  cried  out,  "  TEN  TIMES  ONE  THOUSAND 

IS  TEN  THOUSAND." 

"Do  yeu  learn  that  at  the  Lincoln  School?" 
said  Horace,  with  approval.  "  I  shall  have  to 
put  you  on  my  register,  I  believe.  But  what  I 
was  saying,  Ingham,  is  this :  Here  are  underlined 
with  blue  all  the  seafaring  men  in  this  list.  See 
how  many.  With  red  are  all  the  Englishmen, 


TEN   TIMES   A   THOUSAND.  85 

Scotchmen,  Germans,  and  the  rest,  whose  homes 
are  likely  to  be  in  any  part  of  Europe,  —  see 
here,  and  here.  With  green  are  marked  the 
Asiatics:  people  at  Calcutta, —  there's  a  man  at 
Singapore,  —  all  these  are  Japanese  men.  And 
these,  underscored  with  black,  —  there  are  fifty- 
one  even  of  them,  —  are  in  Africa;  you  would 
say  it  was  impossible.  But  what  with  Algiers, 
Alexandria,  Zanzibar,  the  Cape,  and  a  good 
many  men  and  women  who  went  to  Liberia, 
Harry  Wadsworth  and  his  loving  life  are  rep 
resented,  so  far  as  that,  in  Africa." 

Then  Horace  went  on  to  say,  that  for  himseli 
his  travelling  was  over.  The  people  at  home 
were  wild  to  see  Mabel  and  her  baby.  The  child 
himself  was  weaned,  and  he  should  finally  "  set 
tle  down  "  with  the  two.  "  I  can  do  as  much  at 
home  in  renewing  this  worlo^  and  bringing  in 
the  kingdom,"  said  he,  "  as  if  the  Arapahoes  were 
scalping  me.  And  I  foresee  that  my  mission 
ground  is  Norfolk,  which  I  did  not  suspect  when 
you  and  1  were  in  Calabria.  What  I  have  to 
say  now  is  this,  that  in  Norfolk  I  shall  constitute 
myself  the  assistant  adjutant,  for  that  quarter 
of  the  world,  of  these  Wadsworth  people.  I 


86  TEN   TIMES   ONE    IS   TEN. 

mean  to  keep  up  the  list  of  these  whom  I  hav« 
marked  with  red.  If  I  write  one  letter  every 
morning  and  one  every  evening  to  them,  and 
four  every  Sunday,  I  can  write  in  three  years 
twenty-five  hundred  letters  to  one  part  of  Euiope 
and  to  another.  I  mean  to  find  out,  before  three 
years  are  over,  what  the  radiating  influence  of 
one  Christian  life  is,  in  a  quarter  of  the  world 
which  the  man  never  saw  who  lived  that  life." 

We  were  talking  this  over,  when  we  met  the 
others  at  tea.  Mabel  was  full  of  it.  She  really 
knew  the  Coffins  who  had  gone  to  Sweden  and 
the  Wentworths  who  were  at  Dresden,  and  I 
know  not  how  many  more  she  meant  to  write 
letters  to,  and  get  information.  Mary  Throop 
was  taking  tea  with  us.  One  of  the  real  steady- 
going  people  she,  capable  of  immense  enthu 
siasm,  all  the  more,  because  she  never  shows  any, 
—  no,  though  you  put  her  on  the  rack  and  pull 
her  tendons  asunder,  —  the  approved  way  of 
awaking  enthusiasm.  She  looked  over  Dairy  m- 
ple's  book  with  approbation,  nodded  silently 
once  and  again,  understood  it  all  the  better 
because  no  one  explained  it  to  her,  smiled  her 
approval  as  she  gave  it  back,  and  said,  "  I  am 


TEN   TIMES   A   THOUSAND.  87 

going   to   get   a   book.     I   am   going    to    take 
Asia." 

"  Will  you  ?  "  cried  Horace,  exultant.  "  I  had 
not  supposed  anybody  else  would  care  any  thing 
about  doing  it.  But  if  you  only  will !  You 
bee,  my  dear  Miss  Mary,  it  is  not  the  glorifying 
of  this  young  man,  that  is  the  last  thing  anybody 
wants  to  do.  It  is  that  any  life  as  noble  as  his 
and  as  pure  as  his  never  dies;  and  that  his 
power  to  lift  up  the  world  is  always  going  on ! " 

Yes:  Mary  Throop  saw  that  too.  She  had 
not  enlisted  herself  for  any  work  of  mutual 
admiration.  She  wanted  to  register  the  real 
diffusive  power  of  right  and  truth  and  love  and 
life.  She  would  do  her  share. 

Horace  thought  a  moment  and  said,  "  If  you 
really  will  take  Asia,  I  know  who  will  take 
Africa.  Mabel,  do  you  not  remember  that  great 
black  man  on  the  railroad  from  Memphis  ?  Here 
is  his  name,  Fergus  Jamiesson.  He  will  take 
Africa.  He  had  been  up  the  Niger.  He  had  a 
passion  for  statistics.  And  I  have  his  card 
somewhere.  We  can  have  the  whole  world. 
For  there  is  nothing  the  Detroit  men  will  like 
better  than  to  keep  up  America.  I  rvill  write 


bb  TEN   TIMES   ONE   IS   TEN. 

to-night  to  Taylor  and  to  Wagner.     They  have 
the  statistical  passion  there  also." 

"  For  my  part,"  said  Polly,  "  I  detest  writing 
Betters  to  people  I  never  saw.  I  believe  you 
men  like  it,  because  you  did  it  in  the  army,  — • 
and  you  thought  King  Bornba  was  beaten  when 
you  had  emptied  a  pigeon-hole  by  putting  all 
the  papers  into  big  envelopes,  and  writing  on 
the  outside  '  Respectfully  referred  to  Major 
Pendennis.' 

"  For  my  part,"  continued  she,  "  I  had  rathei 
he  children  should  spend  their  money  on  a  grab- 
Dag  at  a  fair,  than  bring  me  home  a  parcel  of 
letters  from  the  fair  post-office,  that  were  written 
at  a  venture,  from  somebody  to  nobody,  to  be 
posted  nowhere,  because  they  were  good  for 
nothing." 

Mabel  laughed  and  said,  "  Amen,  amen.  But 
you  see,  dear  Polly,"  said  she,  "  or  you  shall 
see,  that  these  letters  of  ours  are  written  by 
somebody  of  flesh  and  blood,  to  somebody  of 
blood  and  flesh,  with  something  in  them  and 
going  —  to  Sweden,  —  mine  are." 

"  Humph,"  said  Polly  incredulously,  "  they 
will  take  the  express  train  back  to  Weeden  sta- 


TEN   TIMES   A   THOUSAND.  89 

tion  when  they  get  there."  But  Mabel  only 
laughed  the  louder,  said  she  should  write  her 
first  letter  then  and  there ;  that  Mary  Throop 
should  write  hers  and  that  Horace  should  write 
his. 

"  And  Polly,"  said  I,  "  shall  pay  the  postage, 
out  of  our  rag-money." 

So  the  three  first  letters  in  this  gigantic  corre 
spondence  were  written  that  night  in  our  sitting 
room  in  D  Street.  They  were  read,  criticised, 
postscripts  added,  and  then  forwarded;  and  so 
the  second  half  of  the  formation  of  the  Club 
began. 


CHAPTER   V. 

EUliOPE,  ASIA,  AFRICA,  AND  THE  ISLES   OF  Tttl 
OCEAN. 

'VT'ES,  it  is  true  that  the  next  three  years  of  thia 
history  become   a   little    less   determinate. 


There  is  less  of  that  "  realism,"  as  the  critics 
it,  —  which  the  critics  so  much  dislike,  because  it 
makes  you  sure  that  what  you  read  is  true,  in 
stead  of  being  bookish,  and  in  general  improb 
able  or  unreal,  as  the  critics  think  all  truly  good 
writing  should  be.  You  see  it  was  on  the  24th 
of  March,  1870,  that  Dalrymple  and  his  pretty 
wife  left  our  house  to  take  the  City  of  Brussels  for 
Queenstown  and  Liverpool,  —  and  from  that  day 
to  this  day  I  have  never  seen  their  faces  more. 
Also  Mary  Throop  has  never  been  in  D  Street 
again.  As  for  Fergus  Jamiesson,  I  never  saw 
him,  far  less  the  Detroit  corresponding  secreta 
ries.  What  I  am  now  to  tell,  therefore,  of  the 
three  years  between  1870  and  1873,  I  am  to 


EUROPE,   ASIA,   AFRICA,    ETC.  91 

compile  from  statistics,  files  of  letters,  and  the 
law  of  general  averages ;  and  it  will  have  much 
more  the  vague  air  of  ordinary  history,  therefore, 
than  the  truth  truly  told  ever  does,  —  from  which, 
as  you  know,  ordinary  history  is  indefinitely 
removed. 

Sparing  you  the  detail,  then,  in  which  pro 
phecy  and  history  fail  alike,  here  is  the  sum  of 
the  story.  Of  the  TEN  THOUSAND  Dalrymple  had 
the  names  of  I  know  not  how  many  hundreds 
of  men  and  women,  who  from  this  cosmopolitan 
country  of  ours  had  carried  Harry  Wadsworth's 
name  or  his  picture,  or  his  printed  letters,  to  one 
or  another  part  of  Europe,  or  if  not  these,  had 
carried  the  spirit  of  his  life  there.  They  had 
what  the  Detroit  men  called  the  four  corner 
stones,  —  and  in  Detroit  had  painted  on  four  slabs 
in  their  lodge-house  :  "  They  "  looked  up  and 
not  down,"  "  they  did  not  talk  of  themselves," 
rt  they  always  lent  a  hand,"  and  "  they  were  not 
afraid  to  die."  Yes,  and  they  knew,  but  for 
Harry  Wadsworth,  they  would  have  thought 
more  of  themselves,  would  have  been  brooding 
and  regretting,  —  would  have  been  slower  to 
help,  —  and  would  have  clung  tighter  to  life. 


92  TEN   TIMES   ONE   IS  TEN. 

With  these  eight  hundred,  more  or  less,  men 
and  women,  Horace  and  Mabel  began  their  cor 
respondence  :  three  letters  a  day,  counting  hers, 
and  five  or  six  every  Sunday.  Well  for  them 
that  postage  was  coming  lower, —  but  they  sold 
their  foreign  stamps  for  the  benefit  of  the  cause. 
That  was  an  economy  Mrs.  Haliburton  taught 
them. 

Well !  a  great  many  letters  never  were  an 
swered,  perhaps  a  third  part  But  on  the  othet 
hand,  it  proved  at  once  that  there  were  in  Europe 
already  many  more  of  the  apostles,  as  Dalrym- 
ple  began  to  call  them,  than  he  and  Mabel  had 
any  idea  of.  They  had  to  open  new  books,  with 
much  wider  margins,  and  much  more  space  be 
tween  the  lines.  Iron-men  had  not  been  ironing 
in  Sweden  without  carrying  there  the  old  Cron- 
stadt  lore ;  railroad  men  did  not  go  to  Russia 
without  carrying  there  the  North  Colchester 
traditions ;  young  artists  did  not  paint  in  Rome 
without  talking  to  their  model  boys,  brigands  or 
beggars,  as  it  might  happen,  in  the  spirit  with 
which  Harry  talked  to  Will  Corcoran  and  the 
Tidd  boys.  Nay,  Horace  even  went  down  into 
Calabria  and  established  an  order  there  among 


EUROPE,    ASIA,    AFRICA,   ETC.  93 

people  as  black  as  the  most  veritable  Carbonari; 
and  he  was  fond  of  saying  that  he  found  there 
some  Italians,  who  remembered  the  padre  CoJ 
onel  Ingham,  and  who  had  not  forgotten  what 
*  had  told  them,  in  my  wretched  way,  of  Harry. 
I  think  Mabel  was  most  touched,  when,  as 
they  were  coming  home  through  Thuringia,  and 
had  stopped  on  her  account  for  a  day  or  two,  at 
the  smallest  and  least  pretentious  inn  that  ever 
escaped  from  being  put  into  Murray,  the  tidy  girl 
who  fried  the  trout,  made  the  bread,  smoothed 
the  pillows,  brushed  away  the  flies,  and  in  the 
evening  played  on  the  guitar,  —  proved  to  speak 
English,  and  proved  to  have  learned  it  at  Mani- 
towoc,  in  Wisconsin.  Mabel  was  so  far  Western 
ised  by  this  time,  that  she  clave  to  the  German 
girl  as  to  a  sister,  —  more,  I  am  afraid,  for  the 
flesh  is  weak,  than  if  the  girl  had  been  a  bar-maid 
in  Norwich  or  in  Aylsham,  rather  nearer  Mabel's 
home  than  Manitowoc  was.  Be  this  as  it  may 
they  sisterized  at  once.  Mabel  talked  Wiscon 
sin  to  her,  and  she  talked  of  the  Lakes  to  Ma 
bel, —  broken  English  and  broken  German  got 
cemented  together ;  and  before  they  were  done, 
the  Fraulein  had  produced  a  Harry- Wadsworth 


94  TEN   TIMEd   ONE   IS   TEN. 

breast-pin  !  They  hau  had  a  little  church  there 
in  Wisconsin,  back  twenty  miles  from  the  lake, 
where  one  of  WiddifiekTs  men  was  the  minister! 
And  this  girl  also  had  learned  "  to  look  forward 
and  not  backward,  to  look  up  and  not  down,  to 
look  out  and  not  in,"  and  to  "  lend  a  hand." 
And  when  she  came  back  to  Thuringia,  in  the 
little  guest-house  there,  she  had  organized  a 
chorus  of  peasant-girls,  who  met  her  once  a  week, 
and  read  their  Bibles  together,  and  sung  together, 
and  knitted  together,  and  four  times  a  year  gave 
away  the  stockings  they  knit  to  the  old  women 
in  the  charcoal  huts,  —  the  witches  of  seven 
generations  ago,  —  and  they  did  this  in  memory 
of  Harry!  So  far  that  little  candle  threw  its 
beams !  They  showed  her  the  copy  of  "  Frank 
Leslie,"  which  had  the  picture  of  the  dedication 
of  the  Wads  worth  Library  Hall  in  Pioneer, 
Missouri. 

But  I  said  I  would  not  run  into  detail.  Nor 
will  I  even  cumber  the  page  by  the  nicely  ruled 
table  Dalrymple  made  up  for  me  three  years 
after  he  left  us.  I  had  enough  rather  copy 
scraps  from  Mabel's  crossed  letters.  She  wrote 
freely  to  us,  and  did  not  count  those  letters 


EUROPE,   ASIA,    AFEICA,   ETC  90 

among  the  official  ones.  But  I  will  not  do  that. 
Nor  will  I  ask  you  to  follow  Mary  Throop 
through  the  mazes  of  her  Asiatic  correspond 
ence.  Queer  stamps  she  got,  with  her  Singa 
pore  mails,  and  her  Assam  distribution  offices,  — 
and  Galle  and  Shanghae  and  Petropaulowsky, 
and  End-of-the-earth  in  general.  Nor  will  I 
offend  the  proprieties  by  copying  the  very  in 
different  spelling  of  Fergus  Jamiesson,  writing 
from  Monrovia,  —  nor  explain  the  great  difficul 
ties  of  his  inland  correspondence.  Far  less  will 
I  try  to  condense  within  these  waning  pages 
the  full  and  triumphant  statistics  compiled  by 
the  recording  and  corresponding  secretaries,  and 
the  staffs  of  assistant  correspondents  and  assist 
ant  recorders  of  the  Detroit  central  "  Office  of 
Registration."  Do  not  we  all  remember  George 
Canning's  words  ?  "I  can  prove  any  thing  by 
statistics,  —  except  the  truth."  So  we  will  let 
the  statistics  go,  accepting  only  the  results. 

For,  about  the  time  I  got  Dalrymple's  elabo 
rate  letter  of  his  three  years'  observation  in 
Europe,  Jainiesson's  from  Monrovia  came.  Be 
fore  long,  there  appeared  an  immense  printed 
document  from  Detroit,  and  then  we  wrote  to 


W6  TEN   TIMES   ONE   IS   TEN. 

Mary  for  her  Asiatic  statistics.  Queer  enough, 
the  old  law  Held !  In  three  years,  everybody 
who  cared  for  this  dissemination,  by  personal 
love  and  personal  work,  of  the  spirit  of  an  un 
selfish  life,  had  found  some  nine,  ten,  or  eleven 
people  like  himself.  The  average  ran  at  ten,  aa 
it  had  done.  And  when  Pauline,  who  was  now 
a  big  child,  added  up  all  the  columns,  they  came 
out,  under  this  eternal  law,  107,413.  "  TEN 

TIMES  TEN  THOUSAND  IS  A  HUNDRED  THOUSAND!" 

That  was  the  one  remark  which  Pauline  volun 
teered  on  the  occasion. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

TEN  TIMES  A  HUNDRED  THOUSAND 

A  ND  so  my  story  is  well-nigh  done.  Not 
because  there  is  no  more  to  tell,  but  be 
cause  there  is  so  much  to  tell.  Anybody  can 
count  the  seed-leaves  on  an  elm-tree  the  year  it 
starts,  but  Dr.  Gray  and  Mr.  Peirce  are  the  only 
people  I  ever  heard  of  who  computed  the  leaves 
on  the  Washington  Elm ;  and  the  man  to  whom 
they  told  the  sum  forgot  whether  there  were  a 
million  or  ten  million,  because  neither  the  word 
million  nor  the  words  ten  million  gave  him  much 
idea  or  meaning.  I  could  tell  you  how  Harry 
Wadsworth  made  the  first  ten  what  they  were, 
but  I  could  only  hint  of  the  way  the  first  ten 
helped  the  first  hundred.  I  could  only  pick  out 
one  story  of  the  work  of  the  first  hundred,  and 
tf  the  first  thousand  I  know  I  have  told  you 
nothing.  But  nothing  dies  which  deserves  to 
live.  Fifteen  years  after  he  was  dead,  we  loved 


98  TEN   TIMES   ONE   IS   TEN. 

him  all  the  same ;  and  every  true  word  he 
spoke  went  over  the  world  with  all  the  same 
power,  though  it  did  happen  to  be  spoken  in 
the  language  of  the  Ngambes  by  a  chief  of  the 
Barotse  to  a  woman  of  Sesheke.  Wildfire  does 
lot  stop  of  itself;  and  when  a  hundred  thou 
sand  blades  of  grass  are  really  on  fire,  it  does  not 
stop  easily.  So  the  next  three  years  from  this 
count  of  Pauline's  proved. 

Dalrymple  had  also  had  to  appoint  secretaries 
for  France,  Southern  Italy,  Northern  Italy,  and 
the  rest.  His  polyglot  was  not  very  good,  and 
he  said  different  nations  had  different  ways.  So 
it  was  in  Jamiesson's  continent  also,  Kilimane 
and  Sesheke,  Ossuan  and  Jinga,  there  were 
many  languages,  many  methods,  little  writing, 
and  no  mails.  But  love  worked  wonders  easily 
in  that  African  blood,  and  Jamiesson  had  most 
extraordinary  stories  from  traders,  and  camel- 
drivers,  and  boatmen,  and  ivory  carriers,  and  1 
know  not  whom.  In  Asia  they  got  things  going 
with  their  own  Asiatic  fervor,  and  they  went 
forward  with  a  rush  when  they  were  started 
All  religions  have  begun  there,  and  our  co-oper 
ation  in  true  life,  which  was  no  new  religion, 


TEN   TIMES   A    HUNDRED   THOUSAND.  99 

but  only  a  little  additional  vigor  with  a  little 
more  simplicity  in  the  old,  was  at  home  on  the 
old  soil.  And  here  in  America,  I  need  not  tell 
how  many  forms  of  organization  and  of  refusal 
to  organize,  how  many  statements,  platforms, 
movements,  combinations,  head  centres,  middle 
centres,  and  centre  centres,  would  develop  in 
three  years. 

What  pleased  me  in  it  all  was  this,  —  that, 
nobody,  so  far  as  I  could  find  out,  got  swept 
away  with  the  folly  of  counting  noses.  Nobody 
seemed  to  think  he  was  subduing  the  world, — 
because  he  was  in  a  correspondence  bureau  and 
kept  count  of  those  who  subdued.  I  do  not 
believe  anybody  gave  more  time  to  the  corre 
spondence  than  Horace  did,  —  a  letter  before 
breakfast,  and  another  as  he  went  to  bed,  —  per 
haps  half  an  hour  a  day.  On  the  other  hand, 
I  am  perfectly  sure  that  Horace  was  ten  times 
a  man,  because  he  was  thus  thrown  into  outside 
relations.  What  does  the  third  "  plank "  say, 
but  "  Look  out  rather  than  in."  It  was  near  the 
end  of  these  three  years  that  they  made  an  attack 
on  us,  Horace  and  Mabel,  and  insisted  that  our 
four  oldest  girls  should  make  them  a  visit.  We 


100  TEN   TIMES   ONE   IS   TEN 

said  it  was  nonsense,  —  but  the  girls  did  not 
thin*  so,  —  and  after  many  obstacles  set  up  by 
me,  Horace  and  Mabel  and  the  four  girls  con 
quered  ;  and,  trampling  over  my  body,  Alice, 
Bertha,  Clara,  and  PauJne,  all  sailed  for  Eng 
land,  went  to  Norfolk,  and  made  a  most  lovely 
summer  visit  there.  Horace  took  them  up  into 
Scotland,  and  they  tried  salmon-fishing  there,  — 
all  of  them,  Mabel  and  all,  went  to  the  Lakes 
together,  and  they  slopped  with  their  water- 
colors  there ;  but  the  very  best  of  all  was  at 
home.  That  was  so  homelike,  so  English,  and 
so  lovely.  I  think  Mabel's  father,  in  his  heart 
of  hearts,  thought  that  these  four  girls  were  the 
most  extraordinary  things  which  Horace  had 
ever  sent  home  from  his  wanderings;  that  no 
stuffed  kangaroo,  or  no  living  emu  of  his  boy 
hood,  equalled  these  four  adventurous  living 
specimens.  But  none  the  less  did  he  come  over 
daily  to  the  house  to  see  what  could  be  done 
that  day  for  their  amusement.  And  Horace's 
own  father,  as  the  girls  by  one  accord  declared, 
was  "just  lovely." 

Of  which  visit,  let  them  write  the  history, — in 
this  place  only  this  is  to  be  noted :  that  except- 


TEN   TIMES   A    HUNDRED   THOUSAND.  101 

ing  when  Pauline  went  bodily  into  Horace's 
den,  and  compelled  him  to  show  her  "Wadsworth 
letters,  they  hardly  saw  or  heard  any  thing  of 
the  secretary's  duties  as  secretary.  What  they 
did  see  was  the  eager,  cheerful  life  of  a  consci 
entious  gentleman  in  the  midst  of  a  large  ten 
antry.  They  saw  farms  in  perfect  order ;  they 
saw  laborers  with  the  lines  of  promotion  open ; 
they  went  into  schools  of  cheerful,  bright,  in 
telligent  children,  well  taught  and  thriving ;  they 
saw  all  the  time  that  Horace  was  lifting  where 
he  stood  ;  and  that  by  Swaffham  in  Norfolk,  he 
was  driving  out  the  King  Bombas  of  that  region 
quite  as  effectually  as  he  drove  out  another 
King  Bomba  from  Calabria.  His  vocation  was 
that  of  an  English  land-proprietor,  compelling 
deserts  to  blossom  and  bear  fruit ;  his  avocation 
was  so  near  to  it,  that  it  was  hard  to  discrimi 
nate.  It  was  the  making  the  men  who  worked 
on  his  estates  to  be  more  manly,  and  the  lifting 
up  their  children's  lives ;  yes,  and  without  theii 
knowing  it  also,  the  farmers  who  only  paid  him. 
rent,  and  the  laborers  whom  they  hired,  and  their 
children  also,  were  lifted  up  in  the  general  reno» 
vation.  These  were  the  vocation  and  the  avo- 


102  TEN   TIMES   ON.E   IS   TEN. 

cation.  For  a  little  "  Third,"  as  he  called  it,  — 
a  pastime  of  his  dressing-room,  —  he  kept  up 
the  correspondence  with  such  Englishmen  aa 
believed  in  the  four  cardinal  points,  and  were 
trying  to  make  other  people  live  by  them. 

Norfolk,  Norfolk,  Norfolk,  —  always  Norfolk, 
with  its  dear  English  names,  Swaffham  and 
Cockley  and  Aylsham,  and  I  know  not  where 
not,  —  are  the  burden  of  the  girls'  tales  of  this 
celebrated  English  visit.  But  the  end  of  it  is 
the  part  which  specially  belongs  in  this  history 
of  mine ;  namely,  the  expedition  they  all  made  to 
Baden-Baden.  A  queer  place,  you  would  have 
said,  for  Horace  and  Mabel  actually  to  start  for, 
having  no  other  object  than  to  entertain  four 
country  cousins,  —  that  is,  my  four  girls.  But 
you  say  this  because  you  do  not  know  that  the 
Prime  Minister,  and  indeed  half  the  government, 
and  the  Crown  Prince  himself,  were,  at  this  time, 
all  enthusiasts  for  "  the  four  cardinal  points " 
named  above;  and  had,  long  before,  painted 
these  statements  of  them,  in  letters  of  gold  on 
the  four  sides  of  the  Kursaal,  where  you,  Mr. 
Chips,  remember  losing  five  hundred  rouleaux 
the  night  before  you  left  for  home :  lk  Sursura 


TEN   TIMES    A    HUNDRED   THOUSAND.  103 

corda,"  u  vorwiirts  nicht  ruckwarts,"  "  avrws  ov 
ouvrov"  and  "  lend  a  hand."  This  was  the  way 
they  rendered  the  four  legends,  which  Detroit 
had  been  satisfied  to  print  in  our  vernacular.  I 
need  not  say  that  the  whole  gambling  business 
was  at  an  end ;  but  though  they  were  virtuous, 
there  were  cakes  still,  and  what  took  the  place 
of  ale.  The  government  —  younger  men  than 
you  and  I  remember  in  Baden  —  were  all  of  them 
enthusiasts,  and  all  of  them  aesthetic.  They 
declared  that  they  would  show  that  Baden-Baden 
without  high  play  could  be  made  more  attractive 
than  Baden-Baden  with  it:  they  gave  the  four 
"  cardinal  points  "  for  the  secrets  of  the  attraction, 
and  certainly  they  succeeded.  The  drama  of 
Weimar  was  never  better  than  theirs ;  the  out 
door  life  of  Baden-Baden  itself,  in  its  tawdry 
days,  was  never  as  luxurious  as  this  was  now , 
the  fine  art  of  Munich  was  more  grandiose,  but 
not  half  so  lovely  as  this  ;  and,  what  with  pretty 
girls,  enthusiastic  artists,  an  opera  beyond  re 
proach,  the  perfection  of  comedy,  the  most 
agreeable  men  in  Europe  and  the  most  attractive 
women,  —  the  people  who  came  there  managed 
to  live  without  rouge  et  noir,  —  at  least  my  girls 
did 


104  TEN   TIMES   ONE   IS   TEN. 

But  they  did  not  go  there  for  mere  agreeable 
living.  It  was,  as  we  know,  rather  more  than 
eighteen  years  since  that  meeting  of  ten  of  us, 
in  the  North  Colchester  station  house.  It  was 
three  years  since,  as  I  told  you,  Pauline  added 
up  her  "  hundred  thousand  "  of  the  multiples  of 
that  original  ten.  And  at  the  end  of  the  eighteen 
years,  the  Crown  Prince  had  determined  to  call 
together  privately  a  Conferenz  of  corresponding 
secretaries ;  not,  as  he  said  in  his  circular,  for  the 
purpose  of  making  any  plans,  —  for,  as  he  sup 
posed,  the  great  merit  of  our  movement  was  that 
it  never  had  any  plans,  — but  that  the  secretaries 
might  know  each  other  by  sight,  and,  at  least, 
have  the  satisfaction  of  shaking  hands.  "  If 
they  did  nothing  else,"  said  the  Crown  Prince, 
"  they  could  show  each  other  how  they  kept  their 
record-books."  So  they  assembled,  —  and  for 
four  of  Horace's  suite  I  can  testify  that,  as  we 
say  down  East,  "  they  had  an  excellent  time." 
But  it  was  the  queerest  assembly  that  ever  came 
together  in  that  Kursaal. 

Sailors  from  the  Levantine  ports,  old  long- 
robed  men  from  Poland,  who  looked  like  Shylock 
but  were  very  unlike  him,  cloth-men  from  the 


TEN  TIMES  A   HUNDRED  THOUSAND.  105 

depths  of  Germany,  quiet  Spanish  scholars  from 
the  university  cities,  two  quaint-looking  school 
masters  from  Holland,  and  nice  stout  men,  who, 
Alice  is  sure,  were  burgomasters.  Then  among 
all  this  white  trash,  you  might  see  Jamiesson 
himself,  great  quiet  black  man,  a  little  over 
dressed,  and  his  crew  of  all  colors,  camel-drivers, 
pottery-men,  wool  merchants,  cadis,  and  muftis. 
Mary  Throop  was  there,  looking  in  the  face,  for 
the  first  time,  beys  and  effendis,  with  whose 
autographs  she  had  been  long  acquainted,  and 
talking,  with  smiles  and  with  gestures,  to  people 
who  spoke  "  Central  Tartary"  and  "  Turkey-in- 
Asia,"  but  of  other  lingo  knew  none.  All,  save  a 
herd  of  black-coated  Americans,  looked  like  a 
fancy  ball,  as  Clara  said,  of  a  thousand  people  who 
still  moved  about  as  if  they  had  all  breakfasted 
together  and  were  entirely  confident  in  each 
other,  and  were  never  to  part  from  each  other 
again.  At  the  first  meeting,  two  or  three  hun 
dred  out  of  the  thousand  had  each  his  record- 
book  under  his  arm ;  and,  on  the  old  faded  green 
of  the  tables,  left  in  memoriam,  you  would  see 
a  Spaniard  trying  to  explain  to  a  Pole  about 
his  totals,  his  gratifying  coincidences,  and  hit 


106  TEN   TIMES   ONE   IS  TEN. 

surprises,  —  holding  up  his  fingers  by  way  of 
count,  and  the  Pole  bowing,  and  sympathizing, 
and  saying,  "Ah!"  and  "  aussi,"  under  the  im 
pression  that  "aussi"  was  Spanish  for  "yes." 
It  was  very  funny  to  the  eye,  —  for  it  was  the 
Tower  of  Babel  backwards.  It  was  all  lan 
guages  and  peoples  united  again  under  the 
empire  of  love. 

No!  They  would  not  have  any  meeting  for 
speech-making,  lest  they  should  get  into  the  old 
ruts.  Only,  on  the  day  fixed  for  the  first  assem 
bling,  the  Crown  Prince  made  one  very  satisfac 
tory  speech,  with  occasional  quotations  of  the  four 
mottoes,  pointing  to  them,  which  was  cheered 
loudly  by  those  who  did  not  understand  it,  and 
equally  loudly  by  those  that  did.  Then,  instead 
of  the  usual  forlornity  of  a  convention,  they  all 
fell  to  talking  together,  and  a  charming  buzz 
arose.  Dark-eyed  secretaries  from  Bulgaria  wer« 
seen  talking  to  blonde  secretaries  with  curls  from 
the  neighborhood  of  Fort  Scott,  in  Kansas;  a 
very  business-like  secretary  from  Oshkosh  was 
caught  talking,  behind  a  door,  with  a  very  pretty 
Circassian  secretary  who  had  brought  her  book 
all  the  way  from  Hirnry.  The  result  cf  a  week's 


TEN   TIMES    A    HUNDRED   THOUSAND  10? 

rapid  talking,  with  drives,  and  walks,  and  con 
certs,  and  picnics,  was  very  great  mutual  confi 
dence  and  regard  among  the  secretaries,  more, 
as  Pauline  thought,  and  as  Mabel  agreed,  than 
if  they  had  all  sat  on  uncomfortable  settees  eight 
hours  a  day  for  a  week,  and  had  discussed  some 
resolutions  that  nobody  cared  a  very  great  deal 
for.  Only  then  there  would  have  been  so  much 
more  to  put  in  the  newspapers !  And  what  is 
life  good  for,  if  you  cannot  put  it  into  the  news 
papers  ? 

Meanwhile,  the  secretary  of  state  was  at  work 
with  a  detail  of  clerks  furnished  him  by  the 
home  department ;  and  the  different  secretaries 
brought  in  their  books  to  him,  and  their  totals 
were  transcribed  and  added,  and  put  into  all 
sorts  of  tables,  in  the  most  admirable  way,  so  as 
to  look  quite  as  dull  as,  in  reality,  the  miraclevS 
they  described  were  exciting.  And  the  result  of 
the  whole  was,  that  in  the  three  last  years  the 
movement  had  gained  TENFOLD  !  Each  indi 
vidual  member  seemed,  on  the  average,  to  have 
brought  in  ten  new  members,  or  BO  nearly  ten, 
that  1he  deaths  in  three  years  were  made  good, 
with  nine  members  more.  The  grand  total 


108  TEN   TIMES   ONE   IS   TEN. 

increased  the  107,413  members  of  three  years 
before  to  1,081,729!  So  soon  as  this  was 
proved,  a  royal  salute  was  fired  from  the  old 
batteries.  And,  that  evening,  the  coirt-band 
performed  for  the  first  time  a  magnificent  new 
symphony,  by  the  great  Rud  jlphssen  himself,  of 
which  the  theme  was  Zehn  Mai  Eins  ist  Zehrk 
which  was  received  with  rapture  by  all  who  at 
all  appreciated  classical  music.  I  am  sorry  to 
say  some  of  the  Chinese  secretaries  did  not. 
But  as  there  was  not  room  for  them  to  sit  down, 
they  walked  in  the  gardens  in  the  moonlight 
Of  all  which  glories  Bertha  wrote  full  accounts 
to  us,  winding  up,  in  immense  letters,  with  what 
was  everybody's  motto  and  badge  at  Baden- Ba 
den, — 

TEN   TIMES  A   HUNDRED   THOUSAND   IS   A   MILLION. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

THE   CONFERENZ  AT   CHRISTMAS  ISLAND. 

A  ND  so  after  a  little  of  Switzerland,  and  a 
dash  at  Rome  and  at  Naples,  my  girls  came 
Vome  No:  no  matter  what  secretaries  they 
had  met,  that  is  not  part  of  the  story.  It  had 
certainly  been  the  most  curious  convention  that 
ever  was  held ;  with  no  speeches  except  this  by 
the  Crown  Prince,  and,  instead  of  Resolutions, 
nothing  but  a  Symphony.  A  convention  which 
ended  in  a  symphony !  Nothing  but  a  symphony ! 
As  I  heard  Kate  —  who  had  been  to  Trinity  for 
she  knew  what  —  say,  bitterly  disappointed,  tha- 
there  was  "  nothing  but  prayers  "  there ;  —  and 
as  the  pretty  Baroness  Thompson  when  she 
returned  from  her  wedding-tour,  —  when  they 
had  arrived  at  Niagara  too  late  for  the  hops  at 
the  hotels, — told  me  that  there  was  nothing  at 
Niagara  but  water!  A  convention  with  nothing 
but  a  symphony !  But  not  so  bad  a  convention 
after  all 


110  TEN    TIMES   ONE   IS  TEN. 

For  it  sent  all  these  secretaries  home  well 
convinced  that  there  was  much  more  in  the 
movement  than  figures ;  and  that  they  and  the 
cause  they  loved  were  lost  if  it  were  shipwrecked 
on  statistics ;  —  that  dear  Harry  Wadsworth 
himself  would  be  dissatisfied,  even  in  heaven,  if 
he  thought  one  of  them  was  getting  betrayed 
into  preferring  a  method  to  the  reality.  "  Love 
is  the  whole,"  said  the  Piscataquis  Secretary  to 
me,  as  he  stopped  at  No.  9,  with  some  letters 
from  the  girls  ; — and  I  know  he  went  down  to 
his  camp  of  lumbermen  more  resolved  than 
ever  to  lend  a  hand,  —  and  some  very  noble 
things  we  heard  from  that  lumber  camp  before 
the  next  year  had  gone  by. 

But  I  have  forsworn  detail.  You  see  we  are 
rushing  to  the  end !  From  this  great  Conferenz 
the  story  of  the  movement  is  indeed  mixed  up 
with  the  larger  history  of  the  world.  It  was 
onlj  then  that  for  the  first  time  many  in  the 
movement,  and  many  out  of  it,  knew  that  there 
was  any  movement  at  all.  A  stone  is  thrown 
into  the  water,  but  who  ever  knows  where  or  if 
the  sixth  circle  strikes  the  meadow-grass  on  the 
shore  ? 


THE   CONFERENZ   AT   CHRISTMAS   ISLAND.      Ill 

Nor  did  we  hear  of  any  Conferenz  or  Con 
vention  three  years  after,  till  it  was  too  late 
for  us.  We  went  on  in  our  quiet  way.  Life 
Was  purer  and  simpler  and  less  annoyed  to  us, 
because  constantly,  now,  we  met  with  near  and 
dear  friends  whom  we  had  not  known  a  day 
before,  and  who  looked  up  and  not  down,  looked 
out  and  not  in,  looked  forward  and  not  back 
ward,,  and  were  ready  to  lend  a  hand.  Life 
seemed  simpler  to  them,  and  it  is  my  belief  that, 
to  all  of  us,  in  proportion  as  we  bothered  less 
about  cultivating  ourselves,  and  were  willing  to 
spend  and  be  spent  for  that  without  us,  above 
us,  and  before  us,  life  became  infinite  and  this 
world  became  heaven. 

But  there  was  a  Conferenz,  though  we  did 
not  know  of  it  beforehand;  —  without  taking 
down  the  dictionary  I  cannot  tell  what  they 
called  it  It  was  in  one  of  the  South-Sea  Isl 
ands,  set  a-going  by  some  of  George  Button's 
Kermadeck  people.  They  could  not  go  to  Baden- 
Baden,  of  course  ;  and  I  believe  the  whole  Pacific 
Ocean  had  had  but  two  representatives  there. 
Their  oanoes  could  not  double  Cape  Horn,  they 
said.  But  when  they  heard  the  accounts  of 


112  TEN   TIMES  ONE  IS  TEN. 

Baden-Baden,  they  all  said  that,  for  all  its  glories, 
it  was  still  true,  —  as  Mr.  Morris  had  made  out, 
—  that  the  earthly  paradise  was  in  their  own 
beautiful  ocean,  —  Pacific  Ocean  indeed,  if  any 
one  understood  the  sublime  prophecy  in  which 
it  was  named.  So  the  Beche-la-mer  people,  and 
the  seal-fishers,  and  the  Nootka  Sounders,  and 
the  birds'-nest  men,  and  all  sorts  of  Alexander 
Selkirks,  and  Swiss  Families,  and  Peter  Wilkin- 
Bes,  and  Crusoes  without  a  name, —  all  the 
Judds  and  Bishop  Selwyns  and  Pitcairns  Isl 
anders  fell  to  corresponding  with  each  other,  and 
organized  their  own  celebration  of  the  seventh 
triennial  anniversary  of  the  original  club  meet 
ing.  It  was  to  be  held  on  Christmas  Island,  for 
the  name  was  of  good  omen ;  and,  as  near  as 
they  could  figure,  that  was  near  the  centre  of 
the  Pacific,  and  on  the  whole  equally  convenient 
and  inconvenient  to  everybody,  —  like  a  well- 
placed  school-house  in  the  school  district  of  a 
country  town.  Great  correspondence  they  had 
with  other  secretaries,  and  great  temptations 
they  offered  of  bread-fruit  and  poe,  and  cocoa- 
nuts,  and  bananas,  with  actually  unlimited  sup 
plies  of  guava  jelly,  to  any  who  were  carnally 


THE   CONFERENZ   AT   CHRISTMAS   ISLAND.      113 

minded,  if  they  would  come.  Great  efforts  they 
made  to  get  some  of  the  "  original  ten,"  and 
with  such  success  that  the  Widow  Corcoran 
went,  and  one  of  the  Tidd  boys,  and  Widdi- 
field,  —  and  great  heroes,  I  can  tell  you,  they 
were  too.  And  in  every  sort  of  craft  the  ocean 
bears  did  the  delegates  from  different  groupa 
arrive;  from  groups  with  names,  and  groups 
without  them.  As  by  those  ocean  currents  the 
original  cocoanuts  were  borne  wafted  in  their 
husky  boats;  and  every  seed  and  every  egg  that 
has  been  needed  since  for  the  food  of  man  01 
beast,  —  so  the  delegates  or  secretaries  came 
north,  came  south,  came  east,  and  came  west,  to 
Christmas  Island.  And  they  held  high  festival 
there  for  many  days.  George  Dutton  was  there, 
evidently  no  day  older  than  he  was  when  in 
California  he  ran  for  his  life.  Widdifield 
met  college  pupils  of  his,  whom  he  had  not 
seen  since  he  preached  in  Newark  in  New  Jer- 
feey.  Mrs.  Corcoran  met  some  people  from  the 
Old  Country  who  had  been  living  in  Honolulu 
for  twenty  years ;  but  on  conversation  it  proved 
that  from  their  old  home  in  Ballykeir  they  could 
see  Stevie's  Mount  in  the  sunrise,  which  she, 


Li.4  TEN   TIMES   ONE   IS   TEN. 

Mrs.  Corcoran,  always  saw  in  the  sunset, 
as  a  little  girl,  she  came  and  went  in  Ballytui- 
lah ;  and,  though  neither  of  them  had  ever  gone 
to  Stevie's  Mount,  by  going  round  the  world, 
they  had  met  here  on  Easter  day  on  Christmas 
Island.  Strong  representations  from  Japan  were 
there,  of  those  charming,  mild-spoken,  gentle 
manly  noblemen,  and  in  the  ardor  of  the  move 
ment  some  of  them  had  ventured  to  bring  their 
sisters  and  their  wives. 

And  there,  too,  they  had  their  symphonies  in 
their  own  kind, —  though  not  after  the  fashion 
of  the  court-band  of  Carlsruhe.  Symphonies  in 
dancing,  symphonies  in  canoes  on  still  water  be 
hind  guardian  reefs,  symphonies  whispered  in 
the  ear,  symphonies  spoken  in  prayer  to  God  by 
great  congregations ;  —  there  was  no  want  of 
symphonies,  and  no  want  of  harmony,  though 
there  was  not  a  resolution  or  programme  or  pre- 
amblr  printed  or  voted  for,  nor  so  much  as  a 
cornet-a-piston  on  the  whole  Island.  The  secre 
taries  had  their  books,  tappa  books  and  books 
of  rice  paper,  books  of  cotton,  books  of  seal 
skin,  books  from  America  ruled  by  Leveridge 
and  Stratton's  compound,  patent,  self-adjusting, 


THE   CONFERENZ  AT   CHRISTMAS   ISLAND.      115 

double  combination  ruling  machine,  and  long 
rolls  of  parchment  which  some  Muftis  brought 
from  beyond  Muscat.  And  speculative  secreta 
ries  and  calculating  secretaries  lay  for  days  with 
their  books  under  fronds  of  giant  ferns,  twenty 
feet  high,  —  yes,  just  as  lovingly  as  the  fairies 
lie  under  the  maiden's-hair  in  the  spring  pasture, 
—  and  calculated  and  copied,  subtracted,  trans 
ferred,  cancelled,  and  added.  Immense  corre 
spondence  they  opened  from  absent  secretaries, 
and  then  calculated  more,  made  more  transfers, 
and  added  more.  Then  they  filed  the  letters,  and 
went  off  to  their  dancing,  or  talking,  or  story-tell 
ing.  Then  the  next  day  they  met  and  calculated 
again,  and  more  boats  and  ships  brought  more 
letters.  And  after  two  or  three  weeks  the  whole 
was  put  in  the  proper  tables,  and  the  great  law, 
"  Ten  Times  One  is  Ten,"  was  verified  again. 
In  only  three  years  from  the  Conferenz  at  Baden- 
Baden  it  was  made  certain  that  the  movement 
was  represented  by  at  least  10,934,1 27  members. 
There  was  immense  jollification  at  the  announce 
ment,  —  a  great  international  feast  of  two  finger 
and  three  finger  poe,  with  roast-beef,  beche-la« 
mer,  birds'  nests,  and  guava  jelly,  ad  libitum* 


116  TEN   TIMES  ONE   13  TEN. 

And  when  all  had  well  feasted,  George  sent  off 
his  own  lovely  clipper  yacht,  the  "  Harry  Wads- 
worth,"  which  had  long  before  taken  the  place  of 
the  shattered  canoe,  with  a  skipper  who  cracked 
o  i  day  and  night  to  Hawaii,  and  telegraphed 
to  the  four  continental  secretaries  only  these 
words  :  "  Ten  million  nine  hundred  and  thirty- 
four  thousand,  one  hundred  and  twenty-seven." 
"  Only  these  and  nothing  more."  And  the  next 
morning,  all  over  the  world  where  there  were 
newspapers,  in  the  head  line  of  the  "  Personal  " 
in  the  leading  journals  of  the  towns  where  were 
secretaries,  there  appeared  in  full-face  italic  cap- 
tals  these  words  only,  understood  by  the  elect,  if 
oy  no  others :  — 

<VEN  TIMES  A  MILLION  IS   TEN  MILLION. 

That  was  the  way  in  which  the  Christmas 
Island  meeting  and  its  results  were  first  an 
nounced  to  me  and  to  Polly.  We  had  been  at 
No.  9  for  four  or  five  months,  and  by  misfor- 
ome  all  our  letters  from  the  Kerrnadeck  Islands 
had  gone  to  D  Street  in  Washington,  because 
the  Kermadeckers  had  neglected  to  put  "  SoutQ 
Boston "  on  them.  Then  they  had  been  sent 


THE   CONFERENZ   AT   CHRISTMAS   ISLAND.      117 

back  from  the  dead-letter  office  to  the  Island  ;  and 
when  Dutton  got  home  from  the  festival,  he  found 
them  there.  Perhaps  it  did  not  make  rm-ch  dif 
ference,  as  I  suppose  none  of  us  could  have 
gone.  But  we  should  have  been  glad  tt  make 
our  own  decision 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

TEN  TIMES  TEN  MILLION. 

OO  the  end  comes  of  course.  For  when  ten 
million  people  have  determined  that  the 
right  thing  shall  come  to  pass  in  this  world, — 
having  a  good  God  on  their  side,  they  will 
always  be  found  to  have  their  own  way.  For 
reasons  I  have  explained,  the  history  becomes 
more  vague.  For  we  have  now  come  to  the 
period  between  1879  and  1882,  and  the  files  of 
newspapers  for  that  period,  let  us  be  thankful, 
are  comparatively  few.  It  was  in  the  fall  of 
1879  that  they  gathered  together  under  the  fern 
leaves  on  Christmas  Island. 

But  this  ten  million  despatch  gave  spirit  to  all 
parties.  And,  over  all  the  world,  many  a  man 
and  woman  who  had  been  talking  prose  all  their 
lives,  and  doing  very  commonplace  things,  began 
to  learn  the  great  lessons,  —  that  it  is  in  the  long- 
run  much  better  to  talk  prose  than  to  talk  poetry, 


TEN    TIME3    TEN    MILLION.  119 

and  that  he  who  does  commonplace  things  well 
may  be  mastering  the  world.  With  the  ten 
million  despatch,  I  should  say,  there  came  for 
the  first  time  the  feeling  that  even  by  prose  and 
by  commonplace  the  world  might  be  saved. 

And,  for  three  years  more,  the  three  years 
between  1879  and  1882,  the  ten  million  people, 
each  in  his  own  home,  were  doing  just  what 
Harry  himself  did  in  the  beginning.  Only  they 
had  the  feeling,  now,  that  something  was  coming 
to  pass  which  he  never  dreamed  of,  nor  the  Club 
of  Ten,  nor  the  Detroit  Club.  They  did  not 
put  the  "  movement"  into  the  newspaper;  there 
was  no  "movement"  to  put  in, —  more  than, 
there  was  when  Harry  gave  the  Widow  Corco 
ran  her  chips  in  the  wood-shed.  Still  the  great 
fact  of  the  existence  of  the  ten  million  could  not 
well  be  kept  out  of  the  newspapers.  And  with 
out  dwelling  on  this  period,  I  may  just  say  that 
it  was  in  these  three  years  that  the  "  movement," 
if  it  must  be  called  so,  went  through  the  necea- 
iary  crises  of  controversy. 

Mr.  Agassiz  says  that  every  great  scientific 
truth  goes  through  three  stages.  First,  people 
gay  it  conflicts  with  the  Bible.  Next,  they  say 


120  TEN   TIMES   ONE   IS  TEN. 

it  had  been  discovered  before.  Lastly,  they  say 
they  always  believed  it  Exactly  this  happened 
with  the  "movement."  The  first  two  stages 
carne  in,  in  the  three  years  between  1879  and 
1882. 

As  soon  as  the  magic  words, 

TEST  TIMES  A  MILLION  IS   TEN  MILLION. 

appeared  by  direction  of  the  local  secretaries  in 
the  "  Personal "  of  the  daily  newspapers,  all  the 
religious  newspapers  began  inquiring  into  theii 
meaning,  —  and  to  ask  whether  there  were  not 
concealed  some  profligate  attack  on  the  Bible 
The  particularly  bright  religious  journals  got 
leaders  out  about  it  within  a  fortnight  after  the 
words  appeared,  —  the  others  not  so  soon.  This 
delay  was  not  amiss,  however.  The  bright  ones 
had  all  proved  that  the  words  were  very  danger 
ous,  and  that  a  terrible  plot  against  the  church 
was  concealed  in  them.  This  waked  up  the 
drowsy  ones,  and  they  did  not  like  to  own  that 
they  had  been  asleep.  So  they  all  said  they  did 
not  think  the  words  were  dangerous:  the  only 

* 

danger  was  in  the  columns  of  the  wakeful  journ 
als.  This  gave  our  friends  one  half  the  religicas 


TEN  TIMES   TEN   MILLION.  12t 

press  as  counsel  for  the  defence ;  and  as,  in  truth, 
our  whole  effort  was  in  the  simple  line  of  the  most 
unpretending  Christianity,  whenever  any  journal 
did  try  to  rip  up  the  constitution  of  a  club,  or  to 
prove  that  Harry  Wadsworth  was  a  heathen,  the 
effort  generally  came  to  grief  of  its  own  weight. 
There  was  a  good  deal  of  judicious  comment  on 
the  dangers  of  secret  societies,  till  it  proved  that 
none  of  the  ten  million  people,  as  they  carne  to 
be  called,  had  formed  any  secret  society.  A 
good  deal  was  said  about  log-rolling  and  mutual 
admiration  societies.  But  on  the  whole  it  proved 
that  they  had  a  distaste  for  politics,  and  that 
when  they  were  in  public  life  they  were  men  the 
public  could  not  do  without.  Before  many 
months,  as  it  happened,  a  proposal  was  made  in 
the  English  Parliament  to  omit  the  letter  u 
from  the  spelling  of  "honour "in  the  English 
Bibles.  And  then  on  this  question  such  a  con 
troversy  arose  in  England  as  swept  through  the 
religious  press  of  all  the  world,  and  this  quite 
endeu  the  "ten  million  discussion."  Nothing 
more  was  ever  said,  so  far  as  I  ever  heard,  about 
the  movement  being  hostile  to  the  Bible. 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  a  good  many  bright 
fellows,  frontier  bishops,  secretaries  of  missionary 


122  TEN   TIMES   ONE  IS   TEN. 

societies,  and  such  like,  who  were  really  trying,  in 
their  own  way,  to  get  the  world  forward  if  only 
they  could  find  places  for  their  levers,  studied  the 
bit  of  mathematics  by  which  in  twenty-one  years 
seven  zeroes  had  been  annexed  to  the  1.  which 
stood  for  Harry  Wadsworth.  They  had  the  wit  to 
see  that  this  was  much  more  substantial  victory 
than  all  their  tracts  had  yet  won,  —  or  any  one 
of  their  embassies.  They  saw  at  the  same  mo 
ment  that  it  was  precisely  the  system  on  which 
all  Christian  victories  have  been  won,  —  on 
which  the  hundred  people  of  the  Mayflower  cabin 
had  become  so  many  millions  to-day.  Hundreds 
of  these  men  were  sharp-sighted  enough  and 
faithful  enough  to  claim  the  ten  million  as  their 
own  allies ;  and  at  once  there  were  published 
millons  of  tracts  with  such  titles  as  — 

"  HENRY  WADSWORTH  proved  a  SANDEMANIAN." 
Published  by  the  Sandemanian  Board.  Price, 
one  cent ;  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  copies 
for  one  dollar. 

"TEN  MILLION  WITNESSES  to  the 
Articles  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church." 
Published  for  gratuitous  distribution,  with  the 
authority  of  the  Rt  Rev.  Henry  Cairns.  Min 
neapolis,  1880. 


TEN   TIMES   TEN   MILLION.       .  123 

*•  REASONS  which  make  it  evident  that 
HENRY  WADSWORTH  was  a  Unitarian 
Congregational  Christian."  Tract  No.  97.  Sixth 
Series.  American  Unitarian  Association,  Chi 
cago,  1881. 

"  WADSWORTH  A  UNIVERSALIST.  A  Short  Tract, 
by  Hiram  Ballou.  For  circulation."  Publishing 
House,  New  York,  1880. 

"  The  Standards  Planted.  An  Affectionate 
Appeal  to  the  Ten  Million."  Philadelphia.  Pres 
byterian  Union,  1880. 

"  Wesley's  Class  System  vindicated  in  Wads- 
worth's  Tens."  Methodist  Board.  New  York, 
1880. 

And  even  Rome  did  not  neglect  an  occasion 
so  tempting ;  but  there  appeared  "  Religious 
Liberty  the  Method  of  the  Holy  Church :  an 
Address  to  those  who  believe  in  the  Four  Detroit 
Mottoes."  Catholic  Publication  House,  New 
York,  1880. 

All  of  them  were  eager  to  make  out  that  the 
four  Detroit  Epigrams  belonged  specially  to 
their  own  communions,  and  that  the  ten  million 
would  advance  their  central  purpose  by  coming 
meekly  into  their  respective  organizations. 


1J4  TEN   TIMES   ONE   IS   TEN. 

It  was  true  enough  that  dear  Harry  had  pro* 
fited  by  all  these  people's  books  and  plans.  But 
Porter  was  all  wrong,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  in  pre 
tending  that  Harry  was  a  Sandemanian.  The 
truth  was,  he  was  an  officer  of  the  Church  of 
the  Unity  in  Colchester ;  and,  as  such,  he  waa 
at  liberty  to  get  all  he  could  from  Pope  or  from 
Pagan.  In  that  Church,  they  never  asked  what 
a  man  believed,  but  they  expected  him  to  believe 
it  with  all  his  might,  and  no  mistake.  If  he 
believed  in  Christ  enough  to  come  to  their  com 
munion  table,  they  never  sought  an  excuse  to 
turn  him  away. 

So  these  three  years  sped  by,  —  first,  in  the 
endeavor  to  show  that  the  ten  million  were  the 
most  irreligious  of  men  and  women,  which  they 
were  not ;  second,  in  an  attempt  from  all  the  foci 
of  ecclesiastical  order  to  show  that  they  were 
the  most  religious  of  men.  To  my  notion  they 
were,  —  though  perhaps  not  exactly  as  these  sev 
eral  tract-writers  supposed. 

Any  way,  religion  or  irreligion,  the  discussion 
did  not  help  much,  and  did  not  hinder  much, 
though  perhaps  it  did  hinder  a  little.  The  ten 
million  were  terribly  in  earnest,  — just  as  much 


TEN   TIMES   TEN   MILLION.  125 

as  the  Original  Ten  were.  Indeed,  they  were 
rather  too  much  in  earnest  for  any  large  scale 
fro.dc  when  the  three  years  were  over.  I  might 
say,  rather,  that  in  that  summer,  the  summer  of 
1 882  the  whole  civilized  world  seemed  very 
much  changed.  Was  it  that  so  many  men  and 
women  were  caring  for  others  more  than  them 
selves,  and  living  for  God's  law  and  not  foi 
the  Devil's  ?  Any  way,  there  was  not  a  rail 
road  accident  in  America  or  Europe  that  sum 
mer  ;  Congress  adjourned  after  a  session  of  only 
three  weeks,  and  most  of  the  State  legislatures 
after  a  session  of  only  three  days.  In  the  pretty 
country  jails  they  were  taking  summer  boarders. 
None  of  the  schools  in  America  had  any  evening 
lessons.  The  daily  newspapers  all  had  feuilletons 
with  continued  stories  in  them,  because  they 
had  neither  murders,  accidents,  nor  sensation 
trials.  Coal  was  at  half  price,  because  they  mined 
by  machinery,  and  the  workmen  had  forgotten 
the  mystery  of  striking.  There  was  not  a  village 
but  had  its  daily  afternoon  jollification,  with  a 
play  or  dance,  or  poem  a  la  Morris,  or  charade, 
or  picnic,  or  concert.  And  all  life  seemed  such  a 
frolic,  that  nobody  cared  to  go  to  Baden-Baden  oi 


126  TEN   TIMES   ONE  IS  TEN. 

to  Christmas  Island,  for  a  Conferenz  or  a  Con 
vention. 

None  the  less  did  the  local  secretaries  foot  up 
their  books,  and  telegraph  the  result  to  Dalrym- 
pie  in  Norfolk.  Dalrymple's  hair  was  iron-gray 
now,  but  he  stepped  with  a  firm  gait,  and  his 
voice  rang  out  as  cheerily  as  ever.  With  such 
telegraphs  as  1882  worked,  his  communication 
even  with  Timbuctoo  was  easy.  Every  day  he 
received  some  dozens  of  despatches  from  different 
capitals ;  and  at  last,  late  in  October,  he  got  a  des 
patch  from  Irkutsk  informing  him  that  an  express 
was  in  from  an  outlying  region  of  the  Chalcha 
land  among  the  Mongols.  For  this  express  they 
had  been  waiting,  before  they  could  send  in  their 
totals.  And  Dalrymple  reverently  added  the 
figures  to  the  sum  of  all  the  other  stations  which 
he  had  cast  before.  That  total  was  99,998,180 

The  Irkutsk  despatch  gave  24,792 


So  the  grand  total  was  100,022,972 

B,")uls. 

Horace,  dear  old  boy,  touched  a  key  of  hia 
table  telegraph,  and  in  five  seconds  the  bells  of 
Swaffham,  and  Cockley,  and  Aylsham,  and  Dere- 


TEN   TIMES   TEN   MILLION.  127 

ham,  and  Hingham,  and  Norwich,  and  for  aught 
1  know,  of  half  England,  were  chiming  with 
triple  bob-majors  and  every  thing  else  that  would 
express  joy.  Ten  hours  of  joyful  chiming  in  Nor 
wich  before  they  brought  the  bells  home!  Hor 
ace  touched  another  key,  and  sent  his  private 
despatch  to  young  Gladstone,  who  was  then  in 
his  father's  place  as  First  Lord  of  the  Treas 
ury.  In  five  seconds  more  the  Tower  guns  were 
firing,  —  nay,  in  ten  seconds  an  imperial  salute 
was  firing  from  every  battery  in  that  empire  on 
which  the  sun  never  sets.  Napoleon  IV.  did 
not  get  his  despatch  for  five  minutes.  He  was 
riding  in  the  Bois  de  Boulogne,  and  the  "repeat" 
did  not  find  him.  But  the  Home  Minister  got 
his,  and  took  the  responsibility  of  ordering  *he 
French  salutes.  So  that  when  Napoleon  did 
get  the  paper,  he  knew  what  it  was  before  he 
opened  it. 

It  was  all  an  affair  of  seconds  over  the  world, 
announced  at  sunset,  sunrise,  noon,  or  midnight, 
according  to  your  longitude.  Our  President 
then  was  a  man  you  do  not  know,  John  Fisher. 
He  was  an  enthusiast.  And  his  arrangements 
for  salutes  were  so  perfect  that  he  said  there  wan 


128  TEN    TIMES   ONE   IS   TEN. 

not  a  capital  city  in  America  but  knew  the 
sooner  than  Napoleon  IV.  had  it.  You  see  they 
had  nothing  to  do,  in  those  days,  with  the  gov 
ernment  stores  of  nitre  and  powder,  but  to  burn 
it  in  jollification.  So  they  burned  it 

And  thus  it  was  an  old  story  to  most  of  the 
wor.d  when,  the  next  morning,  at  the  head  of 
the  "Personal "  in  the  newspaper,  men  read  — 

TKN  TIMES  TEN  MILLION  IS  A   HUNDRED   MILL.IOM 


Dalrymple  wrote  me  a  philosophical  letter  this 
time.  He  confessed  that  he  had  been  terribly 
frightened  before  the  Irkutsk  despatch  came. 
As  it  was,  he  said,  it  was  by  the  skin  of  our 
toeth  we  were  saved.  He  bade  me  remark  the 
falling  off  between  109,341,270,  which,  as  he 
said,  should  have  been  the  number,  at  the  least, 
and  100,022,972,  which  it  was.  "  It  is  aU  very 
well  for  the  multitude,"  said  he,  "  to  say  '  ten 
times  ten  million  is  a  hundred  million,'  and  that 
is,  thank  God,  one  of  the  eternal  truths.  But, 
for  all  that,  we  have  not  gained  tenfold  in  these 
three  years.  We  have  fallen  off  badly.  So 
much  for  the  quarrels  of  you  Dominies.  Ali 


TEN   TIMES   TEN   MILLION.  129 

the  time  we  were  sticking  fast  on  the  Great 
Roll,  at  those  ninety-seven  millions  and  ninety- 
eight  millions  that  filled  up  so  slowly,  my  heart 
was*  in  my  throat.  I  lost  my  appetite,  and  could 
not  hit  a  partridge  if  1  tried.  I  tell  you  a  million 
people  are  a  great  many.  And  when  that  plucky 
Tchitchakoft's  bulletin  came  in,  Fred,  I  could 
have  kissed  him.  But,  for  the  love  of 
Harry,  let  us  have  no  more  quarrelling 
you  padres ! " 


CHAPTER  IX. 

A  THOUSAND  MILLION. 

A  ND  why  were  all  these  salutes  fired,  ths 
world  over?  Why  was  every  capital 
illuminated  ?  Why  was  there  a  holiday  given 
to  every  school?  Half-holidays  had  been  the 
universal  daily  custom  for  years  before.  It  was 
simply,  you  see,  that  a  tenth  part  of  the  people 
in  the  world  had  shown,  in  some  way  worth 
belief,  that  they  meant  — 

To  look  up  and  not  down, 
To  look  forward  and  not  back, 
To  look  out  and  not  in,  — 

and 

To  lend  a  hand. 

I  say  one  tenth,  in  round  numbers.  We  did 
not  know  in  1882  how  many  people  there  were 
in  *he  world  exactly.  But  we  had  subdued  some 
estimates,  and  we  had  swelled  some,  and  we 
u  conceited  "  that  there  were  rather  more  than  a 


A   THOUSAND   MILLION.  131 

thousand  million  men,  women,  and  children,  the 
world  over.  We  had  one  estimate  as  high  as 
1,228,000,000;  and  this  was,  for  want  of  a 
better,  taken  by  the  statistical  men  as  the  true 
one.  It  was  roughly  said  that  a  tenth  part  of 
these  were  those  little  children  of  whose  like  is 
the  kingdom  of  heaven,  who  are  not  yet  pro 
faned  by  contact  with  earth,  or  who,  at  all  events, 
cannot  be  pledged  to  any  line  of  duty.  If  this 
were  so,  there  were,  in  round  hundreds,  one 
thousand  one  hundred  million  sentient,  sensible, 
and  responsible  people  in  the  world,  say  over 
three  years  old.  Now,  one  tenth  of  these,  as  I 
said,  were  willing  to  live  for  the  company  rather 
than  themselves.  This  willingness  started  this 
rejoicing.  Of  course  a  minority  so  large  as  that, 
practically  agreeing  on  a  few  principles,  ruled 
absolutely  the  larger  majority.  When  but  one 
man  in  thirteen  was  a  Christian  in  the  Roman 
Empire,  Constantine  found  it  politic  to  proclaim 
Christianity. 

But  we  meant  no  such  flash  in  the  pan  aa 
Constantino's  proclamation.  We  had  not  seen 
the  Club  of  ten  enlarge  to  the  hundred  million, 
in  less  than  a  generation,  to  stop  there.  Indeed, 


132  TEN   TIMES   ONE   IS   TEN. 

the  ten  meanest  men  among  those  Chalcha  peo 
pie  were  as  much  in  earnest  as  any  of  us  of  the 
Original  Ten,  that  this  world,  and  nothing  _ess, 
should  be  put  on  a  few  simple  principles,  such 
as  J«sus  Christ  lived  for  and  died  for.  No  man 
«aid  any  thing  about  this.  The  quarrels  of  the 
Dominies  had  cured  us  of  talk  and  of  new 
methods.  Every  man  and  woman  understood 
that  there  was  no  short  cut  nor  patent  process. 
We  saw  that  the  thing  must  spread  by  contagion 
f  it  spread  at  all.  Still,  though  no  man  said 
any  thing,  I  can  tell  you  the  interest  became 
intense,  almost  terrible  sometimes,  as  those  next 
three  years  whirled  by. 

You  see  at  first  these  hundred  million  people 
were  very  unequally  divided.  Commerce,  adven 
ture,  and  all  that,  had  scattered  them  a  great 
deal ;  but  still  there  were  favored  points  and 
points  not  favored.  There  were  whole  villages, 
where,  as  far  as  you  could  see,  almost  every  man 
held  loyal  to  the  Four  Mottoes ;  where  you  were 
fairly  tempted  to  say  that  God's  own  kingdom 
of  love  had  come,  just  as  you  are  tempted  to 
say  that  of  some  Homes  you  and  I  know  of. 

But  these  people,  if  they  really  meant  "  to  lend 


A.   THOUSAND    Mil  .LION.  133 

a  hand,"  could  not  stay  in  any  such  four-square 
Sybaris  as  that.  Tndeed  they  would  stifle  there, 
for  want  of  vital  air,  and  of  exercise.  They 
could  not  say  their  prayers  there,  indeed.  What 
use  in  praying  "  Thy  kingdom  come,  Thy  wiL 
be  done  on  earth  as  it  is  done  in  heaven,"  if 
they,  the  very  work-people  to  whom  God  had 
intrusted  the  work  of  the  world,  were  doing 
nothing  about  it  ?  And  of  course,  as  they  looked 
out  and  not  in,  and  forward  and  not  backward, 
they  did  not  satisfy  themselves  with  making  a 
contribution  in  church  to  help  send  one  man  in 
a  black  frock  coat  and  a  white  neck-cloth  to  do 
this  thing  for  them.  They  went  themselves,  in 
great  companies.  That  was  the  new  school  of 
missions  which  built  up  the  new  civilization : 
unless  you  remember  Lord  Baltimore,  and  Win- 
throp,  and  the  Mayflower,  or  perhaps  go  back  to 
Jsocrates  and  Herodotus,  and  say  it  was  the  old 
6-rhool  of  missions.  A  new  Sybaris,  say  better 
a  new  Nazareth,  would  plant  itself  right  ir.  the 
midst  of  a  horde  of  Gauchos,  with  rifles  enough 
to  make  itself  respected,  —  yes,  but  with  dolls 
and  rattles  enough  for  the  Gaucho  babies,  bread 
and  butte*  enough  for  the  Gaucho  women  if 


134  TEN   TIMES   ONE   IS   TEN. 

there  were  famine,  and,  in  general,  love  enough 
to  tame  any  Gaucho  chief  who  was  not  very 
thick-skinned.  All  over  the  world  you  saw  such 
clusters  of  young  people  going  from  worn-out 
Boils  to  the  virgin  soils,  or  from  the  new  lands  to 
the  historical:  Old  and  New  playing  into  each 
other's  hands,  and,  by  wonderful  combinations, 
taking  tricks  which  had  been  thought  impossible 
before. 

Then  you  began  to  see  the  old  line  of  public 
appeal  exactly  changed.  The  advertisement 
became  the  appeal  of  generosity  instead  of  the 
plea  of  selfishness. 

I 

From  the  New  York  Herald. 

A  MOTHER  and  her  daughter,  without  encuin 
brance,  would  gladly  know  where  they  can  be  of 
use.  One  of  them  was  in  Mrs.  Emerson's  school,  and 
they  have  had  the  advantage  of  personal  acquaintance 
with  two  of  the  Original  Ten.  Address  M.  and  D., 
Herald  Office. 


FIVE  young  men,  who  graduate   this  summer  at 
Cornell,  would  like   to  go   to   any  part  of  the 
world  where  they  are  needed.     Will  bear  their  own 
expenses.     Have  heard  the  lectures  of  Mr.  Widdifield, 
and  the  brothers  Corcoran. 


A   THOUSAND   MILLION.  135 

A   WIDOW  with  four  children  will  take  into  her 
family  a  paralyzed  woman,  or  any  blind  person. 
Two  sons  good  at  lifting  invalids.    No  charge  for  board 
lodging,  or  washing.     Address  LAUNDRESS. 

From  the  New  Ywk  Observer. 

DISTANCE  no  objection.  Seven  families,  all  the 
members  of  which  are  in  good  health  and  have 
lived  together  without  quarrelling  for  seventeen  years, 
will  gladly  go  together  to  any  outpost.  None  of  them 
ever  believed  in  total  depravity.  Address  the  Editor  of 
this  Journal. 

SEVEN   languages!      Four  gentlemen   with    their 
wives,  in  whose  number  are  good  interpreters  in 
seven  languages,  are  ready  to  sail  at  a  moment's  warn 
ing.     No  charge  or  salary.     Have  met  personally  five 
of  the  Original  Ten.     Address  F.  O.  U.  R. 

DETROIT  Club.  Eleven  members  of  the  Original 
Detroit  Club,  with  their  families,  wish  to  corre 
spond  with  reference  to  duty.  From  an  experience  oi 
twenty-four  years,  they  are  sure  that  they  shall  arouse 
no  animosity  among  any  Christians.  Inquire  of  the 
Editor  of  the  Observer. 

THE  graduates  of  Humboldt  College,  Iowa,  of  the 
present  Senior  Class  —  three  hundred  and  seven 
in  number  —  offer  themselves  for  duty.     Can  work  their 
way  as  stokers  if  necessary.     They  belong  to  one  hun 
dred  and  seven  religious  sects,  and  are  yet  to  know  their 


136  TEN   TIMES   ONE   IS   TEN. 

first  dissension.  If  necessary,  two  hundred  and  ninety 
four  ladies  can  accompany  them.  Address  Senior 
Springvale,  Humboldt,  Iowa. 

And  so  on,  and  so  on.  These  are  only  a  few 
out  of  hundreds.  And  they  are  enough  to  show 
you  how  the  world  is  really  turned  round,  when 
the  people  in  it,  instead  of  inquiring  first  about 
what  they  shall  eat  and  drink,  are  inquiring  first 
how  the  kingdom  of  God  shall  come. 

And,  I  promise  you,  with  such  practical  use  of 
the  machinery  of  daily  life,  the  kingdom  could 
be  seen  coming.  The  enlargement  of  the  world, 
or  of  man's  intercourse  in  the  world,  of  course 
all  the  time  made  the  world  smaller.  The  tele 
graphs,  the  journeys  back  and  forth  to  old  homes, 
the  enlargement  of  means  of  life  and  love,  as  the 
old  war  establishments  were  put  down  and  the 
old  taxes  forgotten,  —  all  these  things  brought  Irk 
utsk  and  North  Colchester  very  near  each  other  ; 
i  nd  it  no  longer  seemed  strange  to  find  Harry's 
portrait  in  a  sledge,  as  you  drove  across  the 


Indeed,  I  believe  that  any  true  history  of  those 
years  would  show  that  the  greatest  difficulties 
•were  not  among  these  distant  people.  For  the 


A   THOUSAND   MILLION.  137 

first  time  in  history,  we  began  to  get  interesting 
letters  from  the  outposts.  You  see,  these  people 
not  looking  in,  but  looking  out,  did  not  have  to 
te'l  us  much  of  their  own  headaches  or  heart- 
acnes  or  belly-aches,  but  were  able  to  devote  all 
their  pen,  ink,  and  paper,  to  the  things  that 
they  saw,  which  we  at  home  wanted  them  to 
describe.  They  dealt  largely  with  simple  people, 
and  it  sometimes  seemed  as  if  their  accounts  were 
of  a  "  nation  in  a  day,"  as  the  hymn  says ;  though 
"eally  they  caught  all  their  converts  with  the 
nook,  and  not  in  a  net.  It  was  not  on  the  out 
skirts  that  the  last  difficulties  were  found.  But 
as  every  man  finds  that  the  hardest  knots  he  has 
to  chop  through  are  those  which  have  been  wait 
ing  in  his  own  wood-shed  while  easier  work  was 
done,  so  it  proved  now,  that  the  very  hardest 
jobs  of  all  were  in  some  of  the  home  stations, 
in  breaking  up  hard-pan  which  we  had  been  for 
generations  trampling  down. 

Just  one  story  of  such  difficulty,  and  the 
whole  history  of  victory  may  be  brought  to  an 
end. 

It  was  in  the  spring  of  the  last  of  those  three 
years.  Every  thing  seemed  happy,  smooth,  con- 


138  TEN   TIMES    ONE   IS   TEN. 

tented,  vigorous,  and  wise.  Those  of  us  who 
were  in  the  movement  —  and  who  indeed  was 
not?  —  could  not  find  man,  woman,  or  talking 
child,  this  land  through,  who  was  not  somehow 
or  other  showing  practical  sympathy  with  us. 
2  think  it  was  rather  as  a  jollification,  than 
to  point  out  any  new  line  of  work,  that  the 
"Reformed  Association  of  Covenanters  of  the 
New  Lanark  Platform"  held  their  great  decennial 
convention  at  Sherman  City.  This,  you  know, 
was  one  of  the  most  important  ecclesiastical 
gatherings  that  we  could  have  in  this  country. 
The  newspapers  had  so  little  else  to  tell  that  they 
all  had  reporters  there.  Seven  hundred  clergy  and 
fourteen  hundred  lay  delegates  were  in  attend 
ance.  The  meeting  was  held  in  a  Rink,  with 
temporary  seats,  so  that  every  thing  seemed  to 
promise  a  happy  time.  Never  did  a  more  plucky 
r-  manly  set  of  fellows  bear  cross  on  their 
shoulders  than  the  men  I  knew  who  were  in 
that  convention.  By  way  of  doing  honor  to  age 
and  experience  and  learning,  old  Dr.  Philpotta 
had  been  appointed  president,  and  he  was  to 
preach  the  opening  sermon. 

Imagine,   then,   the   haggard   dismay    of  aD 


A   THOUSAND    MILLION.  139 

parties  —  press,  town,  delegates,  everybody,  — 
when  the  old  gentleman  gave  out  his  text,  "  And 
what  concord  hath  Christ  with  Belial?  "  (2  Cor. 
v.  15),  and  proceeded,  in  the  most  systematic 
way,  to  "  pitch  in  "  to  the  four  Detroit  mottoes ! 
First,  he  should  show  that  it  was  impossible  for 
a  regenerate  man  to  look  up,  and  that  his  duty 
was  to  look  down.  "  Why  stand  ye  gazing  up 
into  heaven?"  (Acts  i.  11.)  Second,  he  should 
show  that  every  regenerate  man  must  look  back 
ward  rather  than  forward.  "  Remember  the  days 
of  darkness."  (Eccl.  xi.  8.)  Third,  he  should 
show  that  every  regenerate  man  must  commune 
first  with  his  own  soul.  "  While  I  was  musing, 
the  fire  burned."  (Ps.  xxxix.  3.)  Fourth,  and 
lastly,  that  all  the  dangers  at  which  he  had 
hinted  were  slight  indeed  compared  with  that 
Covenant  of  Works,  in  which  men  were  tempted 
to  suppose  that  they  could  advance  or  hinder 
the  Creator's  plans.  "  A  fox  shall  break  down 
their  stone  wall."  (Nehemiah  iv.  3.)  If  you  live 
to  1885,  you  will  perhaps  fall  in  with  this  cele 
brated  sermon  in  print.  I  spare  you  the  detail, 
therefore.  About  the  close  there  was  no  "  if. " 
"  You  have  observed,  my  friends,  that  I  hav«5 


140  TEN   TIMES   ONE   IS   TEN. 

considered  the  fittest  subject  of  our  meditations 
on  this  occasion  to  be  a  series  of  fascinating 
errors,  which  have  led  astray  a  few  giddy  young 
men,  in  the  thought  or  hope  that  they  had  found 
ont  a  better  gospel !  Let  us  all  hope  that  these 
§traws  of  human  harvesting  may  be  blown  away 
even  as  chaff  by  the  wind  of  the  Infinite  Spirit. 
For  myself,  as  the  representative  of  this  august 
assembly,  —  though  these  were  to  be  my  last 
words,  —  looking  round  upon  the  sacrilegious 
mottoes  which  deform  and  deface  the  Hall  in 
which  we  are  assembled,  I  declare  that  I  will 
never  accept  them  as  principles  of  conduct  — 
never,  never,  never !  "  And  with  this  outburst 
he  sat  down. 

In  fact,  when  Vittermayer  had  painted  the 
Rink  in  real  fresco,  he  had  wrought  in  the  four 
mottoes  on  the  four  walls.  By  this  time  they 
were  so  universal  that  you  saw  them  every 
where. 

People  were  aghast !  There  was  not  a  human 
oeing  in  the  assembly,  except  the  good  old  Doc 
tor,  who  was  not  up  to  his  eyes  in  the  determi 
nation  that  this  world  should  be  made  a  worK 
of  Faith,  Hope,  and  Love.  So  indeed  was  he 


A   THOUSAND   MILLION.  141 

But  he  had  found  it  necessary  to  make  his  indi 
vidual  and  loyal  protest  against  the  way  things 
were  going  on,  because  they  were  rather  different 
from  the  way  he  supposed  they  went  on  in  the 
Covenanters'  time.  There  was  a  horrid  hush  for 
a  moment,  and  then  Wilderspin  stepped  for 
ward  and  gave  out,  — 

"  Had  I  the  tongues  of  Greeks  and  Jews," 
to  be  sung  by  the  congregation.     They  sung  it 
with  a  will,  and  blew  off  steam  a  little  so.   Wil 
derspin  invoked  a  benediction,  and  they  went 
sadly  home. 

Then  began  synods,  and  committees,  and 
every  sort  of  mutual  conference,  to  make  the  olu 
Doctor  back  down.  "  Think  how  it  will  sound 
among  those  nice  Bamangwato  people,"  said  my 
Pauline ;  and  everybody  had  some  like  feeling. 
But  the  old  man  was  flint.  They  got  him,  at 
last,  to  say  in  a  letter,  that,  in  a  modified  sense, 
a  Christian  might  look  up  to  God  without  step 
ping  off  the  platform  of  the  Reformed  Covenant 
ers,  which  was  the  great  object  with  him,— 
then  that  he  might  forget  himself,  without  dan 
gerous  sin,  —  and  that  he  even  ought  to  lock 
forward  to  a  happier  future;  but,  as  to  "lending 


142  1EN   TIMES   ONE  IS  TEN. 

a  hand,"  never !  cried  the  old  man.  "  It  is  a 
Covenant  of  Works,  and  union  with  the  Devil." 

So  sadly  came  the  October  in  which  we 
had  hoped  so  much.  All  the  other  secretaries 
reported  a  world  subdued  by  Love.  In  all  the 
other  continents  men  had  found  some  way  to 
express  Jhis  Love,  and  the  Faith  and  Hope 
which  were  intertwined  with  it.  All  princes 
and  all  people  were  hoping  and  praying  that,  as 
October  passed  away,  one  joyful  signal  the 
world  over  might  show  that  the  horrors  of  old 
nistory  were  sealed  in  one  tomb,  and  that  in  one 
unanimous  heart-beat  a  world  of  self-forgetting 
men  would  begin  to  live  as  one  hearty  family  of 
God!  But  here  was  one  man,  who  with  the 
noblest  motive  cried  out,  "  Never,  never,  never ! " 
Whatever  else  might  happen,  he  would  never 
say  he  would  "  lend  a  hand." 

The  thirty-first  day  of  October  dawned.  I 
will  confess  that  it  was  a  sad  day.  Newman 
wrote  me  that  to  him  it  was  a  bitter  morning. 
He  had  been  all  the  evening  before  discussing 
the  Monophysite  heresy  with  Dr.  Philpotts.  "  I 
had  forgotten  the  hated  names  for  years,"  wrote 
Door  Newman ;  and  so  he  had  led  round  to  the 


A   THOUSAND   MILLION.  143 

oeauty  of  Unity  among  Brethren,  to  which 
the  old  man  had  assented  sweetly ;  and  then 
Newman  had  asked,  timidly,  if,  with  a  change 
of  the  language,  he  could  not  bring  his  heart 
to  agree  to  "  do  good  as  he  had  opportunity  "  ? 
u  Covenant  of  Works  ! "  said  the  old  Trojan , 
u  Never,  never,  never  !  "  So  Newman  went  home, 
and  so  waked  sadly.  A  sad  breakfast.  None 
of  them  could  get  to  work.  And  Newman  wrote 
me  that  he  thanked  God  even  when  he  heard 
the  fire-alarm  strike,  because  it  was  an  excuse 
for  him  to  leave  his  study. 

But  when  he  came  to  the  district,  he  bitterly 
rued  that  selfish  thought.  The  fire  was  a  sud 
den  and  bad  one.  It  was  already  checked  below, 
but  smoke  was  pouring  up  and  out  of  the  attic 
windows  of  the  warehouse  or  factory  where  it 
had  been  burning.  It  proved  to  be  a  tactory  of 
paper-boxes,  and  the  pasting  women  in  the  attics 
had  been  stifling  from  the  smoke.  They  lay 
out  on  the  steep  roof,  with  their  feet  stayed  In 
ihe  gutters,  when  Newman  came  there.  George 
Da\is  and  Lawrence  Flaherty  were  moving 
heaven  and  earth  to  bring  their  ladders  to  the 
eaves,  —  and  did  so ;  but  no  man  could  stand 


144  TEN   TIMES   ONE   IS  TEN. 

the  smoke,  as  he  ran  up,  —  far  less  did  those 
poor  girls  dare  to  risk  it,  coming  down.  New 
man  told  me  he  saw  five  fellows  in  succes 
sion  dash  up  Flaherty's  ladder,  waver,  and  lose 
their  heads,  and  drop  senseless  into  the  arms  of 
the  crowd  below.  At  last  flames  began  to  break 
out  of  the  fourth-story  window,  and  to  lap  and 
lick  up  the  outside  of  the  building.  Three  min 
utes,  and  the  whole  would  be  over,  —  when  a 
tall-man,  in  his  shirt-sleeves,  ran  boldly  down 
the  slope  of  the  roof  of  the  church  next  the  fac 
tory  ;  by  an  easy  spring  jumped  across  the  five- 
feet  chasm  between  the  buildings,  walked  like  a 
cat  to  the  dormer  behind  which  these  five  girla 
were  crouching;  and  then  could  be  seen  leading 
them,  lifting  them,  encouraging ;  and  then  actu 
ally  carrying  one  along  the  giddy  gutter-edge, 
till  he  had  led  them  all  to  the  more  sheltered 
side  upon  which  he  had  sprung.  Davis  had 
caught  the  idea  already ;  and,  by  the  time  that 
last  faint  child  was  on  that  side,  Davis  himself 
war  at  his  ladder's  top  to  take  her.  One  two, 
three, —  all  five  passed  down,  —  and  then  Shirt 
sleeves,  as  the  crowd  called  him,  sprang  back 
across  the  gulf  to  the  church-roof ;  and  running  up 


A    THOUSAND   MILLION.  145 

the  slates  to  the  tower,  slipped  in,  and  disappeared 
The  whole  throng  was  cheering  and  yelling. 
The  girls  were  taken,  I  know  not  how,  —  and 
tended,  I  know  not  by  whom.  Everybody  but 
Davis  and  Flaherty  seemed  to  forget  the  fire ; 
and  Newman  found  himself  (as  I  suppose  every 
one  did)  asking  who  Shirt-sleeves  was,  and 
where  he  had  gone.  The  general  impression 
was,  seeing  he  had  come  down  from  the  steeple, 
that  he  was  an  angel  in  shirt-sleeves.  Talk  grew 
loud  at  the  church-door,  which  proved  to  be 
locked.  At  last  the  fussy,  lazy  sexton  appeared 
on  the  steps,  trying,  by  his  air,  to  make  people 
think  that  he  was  virtually  the  hero  of  the  occa 
sion,  though  he  had  not  happened  to  do  that 
particular  deed.  "  Hannay,"  cried  Newman,  "  ia 
that  you  ?  who  was  the  man,  —  where  is  he  ?  " 

"  Locked    up   in   his    study,"    said    Hannay , 
u  sees  no  one  till  office-hour." 

"Study?"  cried    Newman.    "Who   do   you 
•ay  it  is  ?  " 

"  Why,    don't  you   know  ? "    says    Hannay. 
"  Ciucss  you  don't  see  him  in  his  shirt-sleeves 
as  often  as  I  do.     He  saws  all  the  wood  for  the 
furnace  fires.     Why,  it  is  the  old  Doctor ' " 
10 


146  TEN   TIMES   ONE   IS   TEN. 

Newman  turned  to  the  crowd,  waved  his  hand, 
and  cried,  "  Three  times  three  for  Dr.  Philpotts ! " 
And  did  they  not  cheer  v  2!!  ? 

Yes :  the  stanch  old  theologian,  who  would 
have  died  before  he  would  accept  a  "  Covenant 
of  Works,"  had  risked  his  life,  without  one  anx 
ious  thought,  for  those  five  girls.  "  A  trick  I 
learned  when  I  was  unregenerate,"  he  said  after 
wards.  "  I  was  an  undergraduate  at  Cambridge, 
and  had  some  duties  to  discharge  in  taking  the 
tongue  out  from  the  chapel  bell." 

And  the  Sherman  City  papers  stopped  the 
press,  and  put  in  EXTRAS,  to  announce  "  Gal 
lantry  of  Dr.  Philpotts ! "  "  Dr.  Philpotts  lends  a 
hand!"  And  the  local  secretary  telegraphed  to 
the  Middle  States  Secretary,  and  he  telegraphed 
to  the  Central  Union  Secretary,  and  he  tele 
graphed  to  Dalrymple, — 

«  Dr.  Philpo  ts  has  lent  a  hand ! " 

And  this  was  all  anybody  was  waiting  for. 
And  before  noon  of  that  day,  the  Brothers  in 
Unity  at  Fort  Grant  were  firing  a  salute  from 
the  two  cannon  left  for  that  purpose;  so  that 
when  the  Doctor's  study  was  open  at  his  office- 
hour,  he  and  all  men  knew  that  the  whole  world 


A  THOUSAND   MILLION.  ..47 

was  One.  The  old  gentleman  was  overwhelmed 
with  visitors.  He  received  their  congratulations 
and  thanks  cordially ;  but  he  said,  "  I  have  not 
acceded,  and  I  never  will  accede,  to  a  Covenant 
of  Works." 

That  day  the  whole  world  held  festival.  All 
schools  were  dismissed,  all  banks  and  work 
shops  and  factories  closed,  —  all  "unnecessary 
labor  suspended,"  —  as  the  great  salutes  and 
the  great  chimes  came  booming  out,  which 
announced  the  agreement  of  a  world  of  self- 
forgetting  men.  That  day  do  I  say  ?  Every 
day  from  that  day  was  festival,  century  after 
century.  So  soon  as  the  world  once  learned  the 
infinite  blessing  of  Active  Love,  and  stayed  it 
by  Faith,  and  enjoyed  it  in  Hope,  there  was 
no  danger  that  the  world  should  unlearn  that 
lesson. 

That  lesson  —  if  this  vision  of  a  possibility 
prove  true — comes  to  the  world  by  no  change 
of  law,  by  no  new  revelation,  nor  other  gospel 
than  the  world  has  now.  It  comes  simply  as 
man  after  man,  and  woman  after  woman,  lead 
such  unselfish  lives  as  all  of  us  see  sometimes, 


148  TEN   TIMES   ONE   IS  TEN. 

as  all  would  be  glad  to  live,  as  dear  Harry 
Wadsworth  led  while  his  short  life  went  on. 

Nine  triads  of  years  were  enough  each  to  add 
a  zero  to  the  figure  which  stood  for  that  one 
man. 

Ten  times  one  was  ten,  10  X  1  =  10.  There 
was  one  zero. 

But  as  the  nine  zeroes  were  added,  in  twenty- 
seven  years  the  1.  became  1,000,000,000  — 
ONE  THOUSAND  BULLION. 

This  proved  to  be  the  number  of  the  Happy 
World ! 


SECOND    PART. 


HARRY    WADSWORTH    AND 
WADSWORTH    CLUBS. 


HARRY    WADSWORTH    AND    WADS- 
WORTH   CLUBS. 


TTARRY  WADSWORTH,  of  whom  some 
anecdotes  are  told  in  the  first  part  of  this 
book,  is  described  in  a  faithful  effort  to  rep 
resent,  to  those  who  did  not  know  him,  FEED- 
ERIC  WILLIAM  GEEENLEAF,  who  died  at  an 
early  age,  but  after  he  had  attracted  to  himself 
a  circle  of  real  friends,  much  larger  than  is  de 
scribed  here  around  Harry  Wadsworth. 

Frederic  William  Greenleaf  was  born  in  Wil- 
liamsburg,  in  Maine.  He  died  in  Boston,  Mas 
sachusetts.  At  the  age  of  twenty-one  he  left 
Williamsburg  for  Bangor  ;  and  I  think  he  once 
told  me  that  he  served  as  a  fireman  on  the  first 
locomotive  that  ran  from  Bangor  to  Old  Town. 
But  he  took  such  work  as  this,  only  because 
he  chose  to  do  something  rather  than  nothing. 
He  was  well  educated,  with  an  inherited  gift 


152   HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH  CLUBS. 

for  engineering  and  the  mathematics,  which 
naturally  brought  him  into  connection  with  the 
newly  created  railroad  interests  of  New  Eng 
land.1  He  was  soon  after  engaged  on  the  Bos 
ton  &  Worcester  Railroad  as  a  clerk  in  the 
freighting  department.  I  remember  he  used  to 
say,  that  with  his  own  hands  he  switched  off, 
upon  the  Western  Railway  at  Worcester,  the 
first  car  of  freight  which  passed  westward  upon 
it,  —  one  four-wheeled  car,  which  was  the  pre 
cursor  of  the  countless  miles  of  freight-trains 
which  now  pass  over  that  highway.  When  I 
first  knew  him,  he  was  at  the  head  of  the 
freight  department  in  Worcester. 

He  passed  through  different  lines  of  promo 
tion,  and  before  he  died  had  held  important 
positions  in  the  service  of  different  railway  lines 
in  the  United  States.  His  constitution  was 
delicate  ;  and  he  died  in  consumption,  in  the 
year  1851,  when  he  was  but  little  more  than 
thirty  years  of  age. 

Careless  people  speak  as  if  such  a  life  were 

Vw\\ci£c- 
1  His  father  was  Moses  Greenleaf,  the  geographer  of  Maine. 

His  uncle  was  Professor  Simon  Greenleaf,  of  the  Dane  Law 
School  of  Harvard  University.  He  had  Huguenot  blood,  and 
was  glad  of  it. 


HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH  CLUBS.      153 

cut  off  untimely,  and  as  if  its  work  were  ended. 
Because  I  loved  him,  I  could  not  but  see  that 
his  power  over  those  who  loved  him  did  not  die. 
In  different  places,  from  different  people,  I  heard 
him  spoken  of  almost  as  a  present  friend  might 
be  spoken  of;  and  what  he  said  or  what  he  ad 
vised  was  still  held  as  a  central  and  important 
direction.  Now  it  was  a  doctor  of  divinity ; 
now  it  was  the  laborer  in  an  iron-mine  ;  now  it 
was  the  mayor  of  a  city  explaining  to  me  his 
administration ;  now  it  was  a  sensitive  friend 
whom  Frederic  Greenleaf  had  saved  from  ago 
nies  of  morbid  introspection,  —  who  cited  to  me 
this  young  master  of  a  freight-house,  no  longer 
living  in  this  mortal  life,  as  one  of  the  authori 
ties  to  be  most  respected.  His  body  was  buried ; 
but  in  parts  of  the  land,  widely  parted  from  each 
other,  he  was  still  a  guide,  and  a  helpful  guide, 
in  men's  and  women's  lives. 

He  was  bom  May  21,  1820 ;  he  died  July  28, 
1850. 

The  book  in  the  hands  of  the  reader  grew 
from  the  power  of  his  life,  some  twenty  years 
after  his  death.  It  happened  that  in  preaching 
in  the  South  Congregational  Church,  I  made 


154     HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH  CLUBS. 

reference  to  his  life,  then  finished  for  earth. 
I  spoke  of  the  traces  I  had  found  of  him,  in 
fond  memories  and  in  active  duty,  long  after 
his  death ;  and  I  asked  the  young  people  who 
heard  me  to  estimate  the  growth  of  such  power. 
If  ten  people  who  loved  him,  carried  such  a  stim 
ulus  as  he  gave,  each  to  ten  others,  and  if  they 
did  the  same,  the  world  would  grow  brighter. 
I  said :  — 

"  I  once  told  Dr.  Wayland,  the  President  of 
Brown  University,  the  story  I  have  told  you.  I 
told  him  that  I  could  easily  write  out  the  spirit 
ual  biography  of  eight  or  ten  persons  who  would 
tell  us,  in  their  different  lines  of  life,  of  the  in 
finite  blessing  they  had  derived  from  their  inter 
course  with  that  manly,  cheerful,  energetic,  and 
faithful  man.  I  told  him  that  I  had  been  tempted 
to  go  farther,  and  to  imagine  the  after  progress 
which  might  come,  if  each  of  those  ten  went 
and  did  likewise,  —  if  then,  at  some  meeting  of 
their  friends,  the  whole  circle  of  grateful  com 
panions,  quickened  and  enlivened  through  the 
spiritual  interest  of  such  a  life,  should  make 
themselves  into  a  Christian  order,  bound  every 
one  of  them,  every  one  of  the  hundreds,  to  enlist 


HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH  CLUBS.      155 

ten  others  in  the  Life  Divine.  I  told  him  that 
here  was  the  plan  for  a  Christian  Romance :  the 
thousand  thus  quickened,  in  their  turn,  would 
be  shown  to  give  new  life  to  ten  thousand,  and 
so  to  a  million.  And  it  would  not,  in  such  mul 
tiplication,  require  many  years  to  lift  this  whole 
world  from  the  material  grovelling  of  its  infancy, 
to  the  true  spiritual  life  of  men  who  walk  with 
God." 

This  reference  to  Frederic  Greenleaf  arrested 
the  attention  of  a  young  gentleman,  then  and 
now  a  near  and  dear  friend  of  mine.  From  time 
to  time  he  urged  me  to  carry  out  the  plan  of 
writing  out  the  parable  in  which  this  prin 
ciple  of  diffusion  by  tens  should  be  thus  illus 
trated. 

In  the  end  of  the  year  1869  I  attempted  this ; 
and  the  first  part  of  this  book  was  then  pub 
lished  in  six  consecutive  numbers  in  the  mag 
azine  called  "  Old  and  New."  As  the  four 
mottoes  introduced  into  it  —  as  the  statement, 
in  nineteenth-century  language,  of  the  three 
words,  Faith,  Hope,  and  Love  —  have  now  be 
come  the  mottoes  of  a  large  number  of  clubs, 
which  have  taken  Harry  Wadsworth's  name, 


156  HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH  CLUBS. 

the  members  of  those  clubs  may  be  interested 
to  see  the  earliest  use  of  those  mottoes. 

In  the  same  winter  in  which  I  was  writing 
this  story,  I  was  delivering,  at  the  Lowell  In 
stitute  in  Boston,  a  course  of  lectures  on  the 
"  Divine  Order  of  Human  Life."  Of  these 
lectures  the  eighth,  ninth,  and  tenth  were, 
Faith,  Hope,  and  Love,  and  in  the  lecture 
on  Hope,  which  has  more  than  one  reference 
to  Frederic  Greenleaf.  intelligible  to  me  though 
to  no  one  else,  —  references  to  his  single  and 
simple  habit  of  speaking  here  as  a  being  living 
in  eternity,  —  I  used  for  the  first  time  these 
words  which  have  now  become  the  mottoes  of 
the  Wads  worth  Clubs. 

There  were  ten  of  us  much  at  work  together 
in  that  winter.  We  were  publishing  a  new 
magazine,  with  much  hope  and  with  much 
hard  work.  We  were  allied  in  the  work  of 
a  large  church,  which  had,  I  need  not  say, 
large  relations  among  the  poor.  We  have  since 
come  to  call  ourselves  one  Ten  in  the  Wads- 
worth  system.  Central  among  the  Ten  was 
CAROLINE  LETITIA  TALL  ANT,  who  has  since 
died. 


NEITHER   SCRIP   NOR   MONEY.  157 

A  little  story  which  I  wrote  after  her  death, 
with  some  of  the  memories  of  her  life,  belongs 
here. 


NEITHER    SCRIP   NOR    MONEY. 
CHAPTER  I. 

GIVING    A    DAY. 

T  MEAN  to  call  her  Irene,  because  Irene 
•*-  means  Peace. 

You  might  call  her  Letitia,  because  Letitia 
means  Joy. 

Or  you  might  call  her  Caroline,  because 
Caroline  means  some  one  who  is  not  very  large 
but  is  very  dear. 

Or  you  might  call  her  Speranza,  because 
that  means  Hope.  Or  Charis ;  Charis  is  a 
pretty  name,  and  means  Divine  Love. 

But  I  shall  call  her  Irene,  because  that 
means  Peace. 

She  had  arranged  for  all  her  Christmas  pres 
ents.  Some  of  them  she  had  arranged  last 


158     HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH  CLUBS. 

summer  when  she  was  away,  —  off  in  the  edge 
of  the  mountains.  She  was  not  apt  to  be  flur 
ried  or  worried ;  and  so,  when  St.  Victoria's 
Day  closed,  all  her  regular  Christmas  presents 
were  bought  or  made,  and  put  up  in  silver 
paper  and  labelled.  "  Silver  paper,"  dear 
Fanchon,  is  the  old-fashioned  name  for  tissue 
paper.  Irene  liked  to  make  her  presents 
with  her  own  hands.  "  When  I  have  manu 
factured  my  present,"  said  she,  "  I  feel  as  if  I 
gave  a  piece  of  myself  to  my  friend." 

St.  Victoria's  Day,  as  you  did  not  know, 
Dick,  is  the  second  day  before  Christmas.  I 
am  glad  you  did  not  interrupt.  If  you  do 
not  interrupt,  all  will  be  made  clear  in  time. 

So  the  last  day  before  Christmas  broke  bright 
on  Irene,  and  it  was  a  holiday  at  the  school  she 
kept,  so  that  she  need  not  go  there ;  and  while 
all  the  rest  of  us  were  hurrying  round  madly 
in  a  wild  frenzy,  —  losing  our  lists  of  presents, 
and  buying  by  mistake  three  for  grandmother 
and  none  for  grandfather,  —  she  was  at  peace  at 
breakfast,  and  at  peace  after  breakfast  to  write 
a  very  jolly  Christmas  letter  to  Amelia,  and 
at  peace  when  Walter  and  Fergus  and  Mat- 


NEITHER  SCRIP  NOR  MONEY.  159 

thew  and  Lothian  fitted  off  for  their  skating- 
party.  She  saw  they  had  their  mittens  and 
their  scarfs,  and  stood  on  the  piazza,  as  they 
went  off,  and  looked  out  on  the  faultlessly 
clear  sky. 

"  I  mean  to  give  the  day  to  somebody  for 
a  Christmas  present,"  said  Irene  to  herself.  "  I 
do  not  know  who  it  will  be  to ;  but  let  us  see 
what  will  come  of  it."  So  she  dressed  herself 
for  walking,  and  started.  As  she  arrayed  her 
self,  she  put  her  blunt  scissors  in  her  pocket; 
and  when  she  started  she  took  a  roll  of  paper. 
She  put  street-car  tickets  in  her  pocket,  but 
never  scrip  nor  purse  did  she  take ;  and  as  for 
staves,  she  had  not  even  one.  She  was  not 
going  to  give  money  from  the  purse,  —  no,  nor 
food  from  the  scrip.  "It  is  the  day  I  will 
give,"  said  she,  —  aloud  this  time,  —  "or  what 
there  is  left  of  it."  And  she  put  down  the 
latch,  left  the  house  empty,  and  started. 

If  the  people  wished  to  ring  that  door-bell 
that  day,  why,  they  might  ring,. —  that  was 
all !  There  was  nobody  it  would  hurt,  within. 
But  I  think  some  people  like  to  ring  door-bells 
for  the  love  of  it.  So  they  were  happy  that  day. 


160     HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH  CLUBS. 

Now  you  must  know  that  Irene  was  a  per 
son  around  whom  romances  were  as  sure  to 
gather  as  ever  they  did  around  Amadis  of  Gaul, 
or  Darioleta,  or  Blanchefleur,  or  Huon  of  Bour- 
deaux.  She  never  sat  in  a  street-car,  but  the 
woman  next  her  told  her  her  whole  story ;  and 
she  could  not  give  a  tramp  a  cup  of  coffee,  but 
he  told  her  such  a  tragedy,  or  comedy,  of  the 
earlier  adventures  of  his  life,  as  would  make 
five  good  acts  on  any  stage  in  the  world.  Ac 
cordingly,  so  soon  as  the  car  was  well  under 
way,  and  she  had  taken  her  first  look  at  its 
picture-gallery,  —  as  soon  as  she  had  compared 
the  face  of  the  hatchet-faced  man  against  the 
vinegar-faced  woman's,  the  moon-faced  girl's 
against  the  spoony  boy's,  —  Mrs.  McGoffin, 
who,  as  was  pre-ordained,  sat  next  to  Irene, 
moved  up  to  her,  and  said,  in  one  breath:  — 

"  Lady  did  ye  chance  to  know  any  one  who 
wanted  to  hire  a  good  square  room  three-story 
front  with  open  fireplace  'n  though  I  say  it 
who  should  not  there  's  not  a  nicer  'n  a  neater 
'u  a  sweeter  room  in  the  South  Cove.  It  's 
number  ninety-nine  Needy  Street,  lady." 

Irene    was    interested    at    once,   liked   Mrs. 


NEITHER  SCRIP  NOR   MONEY.  161 

McGoffin's  way;  was  not  sorry  to  have  the 
chance  of  getting  round  the  department  of 
Wants  in  the  newspaper,  where  much  of  her 
charity-money  went  ;  and  felt  that  this  was 
indeed  a  "  more  excellent  way,"  if  it  had  only 
happened  that  Mrs.  McGoffin  had  addressed  a 
person  needing  a  room,  by  the  intervention  of 
some  helpful  demiurge.  Rapidly  in  her  mind 
Irene  ran  over  the  list  of  her  most  needy  pro 
tected  ones,  for  Irene  was  the  lady-protector 
of  what  the  ungodly  would  call  a  ragged  regi 
ment  ;  but  there  was  no  one  of  that  host  whom 
even  her  kindness  would  remove  to  Mrs. 
McGoffin's  third-floor  front.  All  she  could  do 
was  to  take  out  her  tablets  and  make  sure 
of  No.  99  Oneida  Street.  She  had  learned 
this  invaluable  lesson  from  Mr.  Woodward, 
the  champion  carer  for  poor  people :  to  write 
down  all  you  can  learn  of  everybody,  from 
the  Pope  on  his  throne  down  to  Smoky  Pipe 
in  his  wigwam,  and  index  carefully  if  you  ever 
mean  to  serve  them.  How  many  chances  in 
life  are  lost  because  people  have  forgotten,  or 
have  not  indexed  well! 

So  she  said  to  Mrs.  McGoffin  that  she  must 
11 


162     HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH  CLUBS. 

keep  up  a  good  heart,  that  perhaps  something 
would  open ;  and  Mrs.  McGoffin  returned  by 
giving  her  her  blessing,  such  as  it  was ;  and 
then  Irene  stopped  the  car,  and  found  herself 
in  Concord  Street.  By  this  time  she  was  quite 
resolved  to  take  a  companion.  "Two  by  two 
is  the  rule,"  she  said,  "and  I  was  wrong  to 
think  of  breaking  it."  To  tell  the  truth,  she 
was  mortal,  and  she  had  felt  within  herself  that 
there  would  be  many  comforts  in  being  alone  ; 
but  Mrs.  McGoffin,  or  I  know  not  what,  had 
put  her  on  another  mood  than  that  of  lonely 
comfort,  and  so  she  turned  into  Duurobin  Court, 
and  rang  at  the  attic-room  bell  in  No.  7 ;  and 
Rudolf  himself  came  down  to  answer  the  bell. 
And  his  great  heavy  face  beamed  when  he  saw 
Irene.  And  she  spoke  to  him  rather  slowly, 
and  asked  him  if  he  did  not  want  to  take  a 
walk  with  her. 

Take  a  walk  with  her!  If  an  angel  from 
heaven  had  asked  him  to  take  a  fly,  he  would 
not  have  been  so  happy.  He  might  have  been 
mortally  afraid  of  an  angel,  or  of  flying,  —  I 
am  afraid  I  should  be,  —  but  he  knew  he  could 
walk,  and  he  was  not  afraid  of  Irene.  I  never 


NEITHER   SCRIP   NOR  MONEY.  163 

heard  of  anybody  who  was,  unless  it  were  a 
detected  tramp,  who  had  squandered  his  order 
for  sugar  at  a  liquor-shop,  and  had  not  re 
ported  to  shovel  the  snow  from  the  sidewalks, 
as  he  had  said  he  would.  Common  people, 
middling  sort  of  people,  like  you  and  me,  were 
never  afraid  of  Irene.  "  Could  he  go  to  walk  ?  " 
That  he  could.  His  father  was  at  home,  be 
cause  the  election  was  over,  and  so  all  the  men 
in  the  street  department  were  dismissed,  their 
votes  not  being  needed  till  next  December. 
So  his  father  could  sit,  and  see  that  the  old 
grandmother  did  not  tumble  into  the  fire,  and 
Rudolf  was  free  to  go  and  walk  with  the 
angel.  She  bade  him  be  quick,  and  he  was 
quick ;  and  they  went  now  directly  to  the  City 
Hospital. 

The  boy  jabbered,  now  broken  English,  and 
now  very  fluent  German ;  and  Irene  spoke, 
now  in  very  broken  German,  and  then  in  very 
careful  English.  He  had  a  deal  to  tell  her 
about  his  grandmother  and  his  father,  and  a 
Christmas  letter  that  had  come  from  Blanken- 
heim  in  Baden.  Some  people  think  Rudolf  is 
underwitted ;  I  believe  they  thought  so  at 


164     HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH  CLUBS. 

school,  where  he  was  kept,  a  great  big  lout, 
in  the  highest  class  of  the  primary,  with  little 
chits  half  his  size.  I  don't  think  so :  I  think 
his  heart  is  a  good  deal  bigger  even  than  his 
great  big  head,  and  that  he  is  of  very  slow 
development.  That  is  a  kind  which  the  pri 
mary  school  does  not  like,  but  I  believe  the 
Good  Father  and  all  good  angels  like  them  as 
much  as  any.  So  he  chattered  away ;  and 
Irene  made  herself  as  young  as  he,  and  chat 
tered  too.  And  so  they  came  to  the  porter's 
lodge  of  the  hospital. 

I  do  not  know  if  it  was  visitors'  day.  It 
made  no  difference,  they  all  knew  Irene  ;  and 
she  smiled  pleasantly,  and  nodded,  and  passed 
right  through,  just  as  if  she  were  a  doctor. 
And  so  she  led  the  wondering  Rudolf,  now 
along  the  curved  path  between  the  winter-girt 
shrubs,  then  up  the  splendid  steps,  then  left 
and  then  right,  and  then  straight  and  then 
crooked,  and  then  up  two  flights,  till  they  came 
to  the  children's  ward  on  the  surgical  side. 
Irene  had  hit  on  these  children  first,  as  those 
to  whom  she  would  give  her  Christmas  pres 
ent  of  that  day. 


NEITHER   SCRIP   NOR   MONEY.  165 

And  the  nurses  were  glad  to  see  her.  And 
up  came,  on  the  instant,  a  little  tot,  —  oh,  not 
six  years  old !  with  one  arm  tied  to  her  side, 
not  very  well  balanced  as  she  walked,  —  and 
took  her  right  hand  from  her  mouth  to  give 
it  to  Irene,  and  was  in  her  lap  as  soon  as  Irene 
was  seated  on  the  bed.  Here  was  one  old 
friend.  "And  who  else  is  here?"  asked  Irene. 
And  so  Bridget  had  to  point  out,  rather  dumbly, 
the  boy  in  bed,  with  both  feet  crushed ;  the 
little  girl  who  had  fallen  down  the  cellar-stairs, 
and  had  broken  her  leg ;  the  little  boy  whose 
face  had  been  cut  open  by  a  brickbat ;  and  the 
girl  whose  apron  had  taken  fire,  and  whose 
arms  were  burned  so  badly.  And  of  course 
there  was  John,  —  John  was  always  there. 

"  Well,"  said  Irene,  "  I  think  I  must  make 
the  boys  some  horses  and  dogs ;  and  I  will 
make  you  a  pig  and  a  goat ;  and  you  must 
show  this  little  girl  how  to  cut  out  boys  and 
girls.  I  think  Miss  Anderson  will  lend  us 
some  more  scissors.  And,  Rudolf,  suppose 
you  read  them  Cinderella ;  for  here  is  Cinder 
ella  in  my  pocket." 

And  so  it  was.      They  took  station  at  the 


166      HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH  CLUBS. 

foot   of  the   beds   of   the  two  who   could   not 
walk.      They  put  rests   under  their   backs,  so 
that  they  could  use  their  hands,  and  Miss  An 
derson  provided  chairs  for  all  who  could  sit ; 
and    three   pairs   of  scissors    appeared    for   all 
who  could  cut,  and  a  bed-table  appeared    on 
each  bed ;  and  then  whole  armies  of  blue  horses 
and  red  horses,  yellow  cows  and  green  cows, 
purple  boys  and  orange  girls,  white,  gray,  and 
black  goats  and  cats  and  pigs,  began  marching 
to  and  fro  on  the  tables  at  the  soft  or  stronger 
breath  of  the  delighted  children.     And  Rudolf, 
in    a  higher  chair,  read,   and    read  very  well, 
of  mice  changed  into   horses,  and  lizards  into 
footmen.       If  anybody   knew   or   cared   what 
lizards  were,  or  what  footmen  were !     Nobody 
knew,  nobody  cared,  and  nobody  asked  ;  and 
none  the  less  cheerily  did  the  reading  go  on. 
And  for  an  hour  these  five  children,  who  had 
been  restless  and  tired  and  blue  all  the  morn 
ing,  were  happier  than  kings,  all  because  Irene 
had  come  in.     And,  though  Irene  went   away 
then,  they   were    very  jolly  all  the  afternoon. 
For   Irene   lent  Bridget    her  scissors,    and  she 
left   all    those    sheets  of    colored    paper ;    and 


NEITHER   SCRIP    NOR   MONEY.  167 

she  told  Rudolf  that  he  might  leave  the  book 
with  the  tall  boy  on  crutches  who  had  con 
descended  to  hobble  down  to  the  gathering. 
So  the  children  had  Bluebeard  and  Aladdin 
and  the  rest,  and  made  armies  of  four-legged 
people  and  two-legged  people,  and  people  of 
many  legs,  before  the  day  was  done. 

Why  Irene  went  away  so  soon  was  this: 
There  came  up  stairs,  from  one  of  the  lower 
wards,  a  man  who  looked  pale  through  all  the 
olive  of  his  face,  with  coarse  Indian  hair,  rather 
under-sized,  but  still  with  a  firm  military  walk, 
which  you  would  notice  even  in  our  nation 
of  soldiers.  He,  too,  had  had  a  broken  arm, 
but  to-day  he  was  discharged  as  cured. 

The  man  was  a  Russian.  His  accident  had 
befallen  him  on  shipboard  ;  he  had  been  brought 
direct  to  the  hospital,  and  he  knew  never  a 
man  nor  a  place  in  the  town.  Poor  fellow ! 
he  could  n't  speak  ten  words  of  English.  The 
doctors  had  spoken  to  him  in  German,  in  which 
he  could  just  make  himself  understood  ;  and 
now  he  had  come  up  to  Miss  Anderson,  be 
cause  she  could  speak  a  little  German,  to  know 
where,  in  the  great  forlornity  of  a  strange  city, 


168     HARRY  VVADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH  CLUBS. 

he  should  pack  himself  away.  Of  course  Miss 
Anderson  beckoned  to  Irene ;  people  al  \vays 
beckoned  to  Irene  when  things  were  limping. 
Her  German  was  no  better  than  the  Tartar's. 
And  I  have  always  observed  that  in  speaking 
a  language  two  halves  do  not  make  one  whole. 
But,  among  them,  they  understood  that  the 
man  wanted  to  know  where  he  was  to  live 
cheaply  and  simply  till  he  found  his  place. 
God  knew  what  that  place  was  to  be,  but  cer 
tainly  nobody  else  did.  This  was  Irene's 
thought.  And  then,  in  all  that  followed,  about 
his  chest,  and  his  wages,  and  the  captain,  and 
the  ship,  and  the  consul  and  the  vice-consul, 
Irene's  German  and  Miss  Anderson's  German, 
born  of  Goethe  and  bred  by  Schiller,  broke 
wholly  down ;  for  there  is  nothing  about  sea 
men's  chests  in  Wallenstein,  and  nothing  about 
vice-consuls  in  the  Morphologic. 

Then  it  was  that  Rudolf  came  to  the  front. 
Now  it  appeared  for  what  purpose  in  this  world 
lie  was  foreordained.  The  Russian  made  him 
understand,  and  he  made  Irene  understand ; 
and  so  they  bade  the  children  good-by.  And 
Irene,  who  from  the  first  had  determined  that 


NEITHER   SCRIP   NOR   MONEY.  169 

Mrs.  McGoffin's  spare  room  was  foreordained  for 
the  Russian,  was  under  way  again  with  him  and 
with  Rudolf,  for  No.  99  "  Needy  "  Street.  By 
this  time  Rudolf  was  chattering  with  the  North 
ern  bear,  and  Irene  had  her  thoughts  for  her 
companions,  after  they  had  crossed  to  Shawm ut 
Avenue  and  had  taken  seats  in  the  car.  This 
time  the  portrait  gallery  was  hung  with  quite 
another  set  of  faces.  There  was  a  tender 
foreign-faced  woman  in  a  seal-skin  sack,  talk 
ing  eagerly  to  Mr.  Brooks  Phillips.  Of  course 
everybody  in  Boston  knew  him.  On  the  other 
side  another  lady  sometimes  interrupted  and 
sometimes  suggested.  "  Perhaps  they  are  going 
to  a  Christmas-tree,"  said  Irene  to  herself,  "  and 
perhaps  again  they  are  going  to  the  celebration 
of  Adam  and  Eve  to-day."  For  be  it  known 
to  you,  Dick,  who  are  so  rusty  in  your  calen 
dar,  that  the  day  before  Christmas  is  Adam 
and  Eve's  Day.  Beyond  them,  stringing  along 
upon  the  seat,  were  five  Roxbury  Latin  School 
boys,  as  the  legends  on  their  caps  made  sure. 
Their  knees  were  piled  with  baskets  and  white- 
paper  parcels.  It  was  clear  enough  where 
they  were  going.  Dover  Street  disturbed  the 


170     HARRY  WADSWORTII  AND  VVADSWORTH  CLUBS. 

party  a  little,  and  some  people  going  to  the 
Asylum  disturbed  it  more.  And  when  Irene 
herself  rose  with  her  party  at  Castle  Street,  she 
saw  in  the  straw,  for  the  first  time,  a  dainty 
pink  package  which  she  had  last  seen  in  the  lap 
of  one  of  Mr.  Phillips's  friends.  That  lady  had 
left  already.  Irene  considered  a  moment.  "  No," 
said  she  to  herself,  "I  will  not  give  it  to  the 
conductor ;  that  will  be  too  late  for  Christmas. 
I  can  find  her  somehow  in  time."  So  she 
stopped  at  Mr.  Prescott's,  and  left  a  wood- 
order  with  him,  and  then  they  came  back  to 
Oneida  Street. 

Feodor  Ivanovitch  was  taken  up  to  Mrs.  Mc- 
Goffin's.  With  due  dumb  show,  with  an  oration 
in  Russian  by  him,  very  loud  and  very  slow, 
with  an  oration  in  Irish  by  her,  very  loud  and 
very  fast,  by  the  payment  in  advance  of  a 
dollar  and  a  quarter  on  his  part,  and  due  me 
diation  on  the  part  of  Rudolf  and  Irene,  a 
mutual  unwritten  covenant  was  made. 

Then  the  Russian  bear  had  to  start  upon  his 
travels  in  search  of  the  chest  and  the  vice-con 
sul,  the  shipmaster  and  the  consul.  Irene  bade 
Rudolf  take  him  in  tow,  wrote  for  them  at  the 


NEITHER   SCRIP   NOR  MONEY.  171 

corner  store  some  necessary  addresses,  made 
Rudolf  explain  to  the  other  that  he  must  give 
him  the  money  for  car-tickets,  and  saw  them 
well  away.  "  Two  by  two,"  she  said,  "  that  is 
the  rule." 


CHAPTER   II. 

LOST   AND   FOUND. 

"  "  I  "WO  by  two,"  she  said  aloud,  as  the  car 
swept  away  with  them,  "  that  is  the 
rule."  Nor  did  she  hesitate  this  time,  more 
than  before,  as  to  her  companion.  In  very 
few  minutes,  quicker  than  you  think  possible, 
Araminta,  Jeannie  Fraser  was  invited,  had  ac 
cepted,  had  girt  herself  in  her  best,  and  was 
on  the  sidewalk  with  Irene.  She  was  a  nice, 
blooming  Scotch  lassie  of  fourteen,  glad  indeed 
of  the  emancipation  which  Irene's  genius  had 
organized  and  made  possible  for  her.  And  she 
had  a  thousand  questions  to  ask  and  a  thousand 
to  answer,  as  they  worked  their  way  across  the 
Common  and  Public  Garden,  to  find  the  Hotel 
Bonheur,  and  Mr.  Brooks  Phillips. 


17:2     HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH  CLUBS. 

Irene  knew  by  this  time  what  a  responsibility 
she  had  taken  in  keeping  the  pink  parcel.  For, 
if  Mr.  Phillips  had  not  gone  directly  home,  she 
could  not  find  out  where  the  owner  lived. 
Then,  where  was  all  her  fine  theory  that  she 
should  be  more  prompt  than  the  conductor? 
But  Irene  was  not  afraid.  "  Fortune  favors  the 
brave,"  she  said  to  Jeannie,  to  whom  she  ex 
pounded  the  object  of  this  expedition. 

Another  terror,  deep  in  Irene's  heart,  she  did 
not  even  lisp  to  Jeannie.  How  if  Mr.  Phillips, 
talking  so  pleasantly  to  the  right  and  left,  did 
not  know  who  either  of  the  seal-skin-coat  ladies 
were  ?  How  if  they  had  presumed  on  the  cer 
tain  memory  of  a  great  public  man,  and  had 
given  him  no  chance  to  say  to  either,  "  Madam, 
I  do  not  know  you  from  Celestina  or  from  Boa- 
dicea?"  Then  where  would  her  pink  parcel 
go  ?  This  terror  she  did  not  lisp  of.  She  only 
said  aloud,  "  Fortune  favors  the  brave." 

And  Fortune  did  favor  her.  Mr.  Phillips  was 
at  home,  and  was  all  interested.  He  knew  both 
the  ladies,  and  knew  that  both  of  them  were 
going  home.  They  had  all  three  been  together 
at  the  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Society  for  Pro« 


NEITHER   SCRIP   NOR   MONEY.  173 

viding  Occupation  for  the  Higher  Classes.  He 
did  not  know  which  lady  had  the  pink  parcel ; 
but  in  a  minute  he  wrote  down  both  addresses, 
and  Irene  and  Jeannie  could  start  on  their  wind 
ing  way.  But  in  that  minute  he  had  taken  her 
measure  as  one  of  the  people  worth  knowing  in 
the  world ;  and  she  had  had  the  vigor  and  com 
fort  that  there  always  is  when  one  strong  and 
sensible  person  talks  for  sixty  seconds  with 
another. 

So  she  walked  quickly  up  the  Beacon  Street 
Mall,  climbed  the  steps,  sent  in  her  card  to  Mrs. 
Donne,  and  was  instantly  ushered  in,  —  Jean 
nie  timidly  following,  because  she  did  not  know 
where  she  should  stay, —  into  one  of  those  grand, 
large,  old-fashioned  parlors,  which  look  out  on 
the  Common,  and,  when  there  was  a  Back  Bay, 
looked  across  to  the  Blue  Hills.  The  Bay  is 
gone,  but  the  Blue  Hills  remain  ;  and  just  in  the 
sunlight  of  that  lovely  afternoon  the  cheerful 
view  of  winter  made  one  forget  that  winter 
could  ever  seem  dreary. 

On  a  long  lounging-chair,  in  the  great,  cheer 
ful  bow-front,  lay  a  pale,  tall  man,  with  the 
"  Rundschau  "  in  his  hand.  Irene  noticed  it, 


174     HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH  CLUBS. 

in  the  moment  while  Mrs.  Donne  stepped  for 
ward  to  greet  her.  She  told  her  errand  in  the 
next  moment,  though  she  knew,  before  she 
spoke,  that  the  parcel  was  not  Mrs.  Donne's. 
She  was  not  the  one  ;  and  so  that  lady  said. 
It  must  have  been  Mrs.  Herbert's  parcel,  though 
Mrs.  Donne  had  not  noticed  it  in  her  hand. 

"  She  is  not  far  away,"  said  Irene  cheerfully. 
"  I  hope  you  do  not  think  this  is  very  foolish  in 
me,  but  I  should  hate  to  have  one  of  my  Christ 
mas  presents  miscarry." 

"Foolish?"  said  the  other.  "I  was  think 
ing," —  and  she  blushed  peony,  and  struggled 
with  her  own  audacity,  —  "I  was  thinking  that 
the  mysterious  present  will  have  a  double  value 
now,  because  two  kind  people  have  a  share 
in  it." 

How  had  she  ever  said  it !  She  had  never 
said  so  bold  a  thing  since  she  was  a  coura 
geous  schoolgirl,  and  had  told  Mr.  Torrey,  to 
his  face,  that  she  thought  he  had  scanned  a  line 
wrong. 

For  Mrs.  Donne  was  a  pure  Bostoneer  of 
sixteen  quarteriugs.  They  say  no  one  is  so 
proud  ;  which  is  probably  true.  It  is  also  true, 


NEITHER   SCRIP   NOR   MONEY.  175 

when  the  blood  is  purple  and  genuine,  and  the 
woman  conscientious  and  living  in  the  higher 
life,  that  nobody  is  so  shy.  And  that  she, 
Elizabeth  Donne,  should  have  made  such  a 
speech  to  a  perfect  stranger,  was  to  herself 
one  of  the  miracles  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
though  she  was  glad  she  had  made  it.  This 
was  the  reason  why  she  had  blushed  peony. 

After  she  had  once  made  it,  the  ice-floe  be 
tween  these  two  women  was  broken  forever, 
and  ground  into  the  smallest  kind  of  ice-dust ; 
and  the  dust  was  all  swept  away  by  the  great 
current  of  God's  love,  into  the  infinite  ocean. 
And  so,  from  that  moment  to  this  moment, 
these  two  great-eyed  women  have  looked  into 
the  depths  of  each  other's  souls,  and  have 
known  each  other  and  loved  each  other  through 
and  through,  and  will  forever. 

For  just  as  Irene  was  blushing  too,  and  saying 
good-by,  Elizabeth  Donne,  wild  with  her  new 
courage,  and  rushing  blindly  forward  to  conquer 
other  worlds,  said :  "  Please  wait  one  minute  ! 
Tell  me,  were  you  not  speaking  German  to  that 
sick  man  beside  you  in  the  car?  Was  he  a 
German  ?  " 


170      HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH   CLUBS. 

Irene  explained  that  she  was  only  helping,  as 
she  could,  in  the  German  ;  but  that  the  man 
was  a  Russian. 

"  Russian !  "  with  a  quick,  sharp  tone  that 
made  even  Irene  start,  though  she  was  not  used 
to  starting  :  "  Did  you  say  Russian,  madam  ?  " 

It  was  the  pale  man  on  the  lounge,  who  had 
before  lain  quiet  and  ail-but  unobserved.  Irene 
explained  in  an  instant  who  the  Russian  was, 
and  told  why  she  had  him  for  a  moment  under 
her  convoy. 

"  Then  you  know  where  he  is  now  ?  " 

Yes,  she  knew,  or  knew  where  she  had  left 
him.  She  had  sent  him,  with  the  boy  Mrs. 
Donne  saw,  on  the  errands  he  had  to  do,  and 
he  would  be  at  his  new  home  as  soon  as  these 
were  ended. 

"  Did  he  seem  a  —  well,  could  he  read,  or  was 
he  a  common  sailor  ?  " 

"  I  could  not  guess,"  Irene  said,  "  what  he 
was.  He  could  read,  for  he  could  write  ;  and  I 
noticed  that  his  handwriting  was  manly  and 
firm.  The  letters  he  showed  me  were  a  gentle 
man's  letters.  They  were  neat,  and  neatly 
kept.  They  were  evidently  written  by  some 


NEITHER   SCRIP   NOR  MONET.  177 

one  whose  English  handschrift"  and  she 
laughed,  "  was  as  bad  as  my  German  is ;  but  I 
thought  no  worse  of  them  for  that." 

"I  was  wondering,"  said  the  sick  man  almost 
eagerly,  "  if  he  could  read  Russian  into  German, 
or  into  Swedish  even."  He  said  this  with  a  sort 
of  wistful  expression,  which  only  an  invalid  can 
use  or  understand. 

"  Swedish,"  said  Irene,  "  perhaps  Swedish. 
His  German  —  well,  his  German  is  as  bad  as 
mine." 

"You  see,"  said  poor  Mr.  Donne,  rousing  up 
with  a  little  of  an  invalid's  feeling  that  he  is  the 
only  important  person  in  the  world,  "  these  peo 
ple  at  Hamburg,  Perthes's  people  you  know, 
have  sent  me  out  this  collection  of  Philarete's 
Sermons,  and  they  have  sent  these  new  poems 
by  Glinka ;  and  here  they  have  sent  these  new 
novels  of  Senkoffski's,  and  there  is  a  story  of 
Dahl's,  all  in  Russian,  of  which  I  cannot  even 
read  the  characters.  Of  course,  you  know  I  can 
send  them  all  back ;  I  suppose,  indeed,  I  ought 
to.  I  suppose  they  meant  to  send  them  to 
somebody  else,  somebody  who  knew  something, 
but  one  hates  to  lose  a  good  chance.  You 
12 


178     HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH  CLUBS. 

know,  well,  they  seem  to  be  thrown  in  my  way. 
And  if  there  is  anything  good  to  read  in  the 
world,  or  anything  new,  and  an  express-man 
actually  brings  it  into  your  house,  and  you  have 
really  cut  the  cord,  and  have  the  book  in  your 
hand,  why  you  know,  madam,  that  it  seems 
wicked  to  send  it  back  again." 

Anything  good  to  read,  and  anything  new ! 
And  this  was  what  this  man  said  who  had  all 
those  fascinating  piles  of  French  and  German 
books  at  his  side,  which  to  Irene's  eye  had 
seemed  piled  up  like  the  gateway  of  the  Happy 
Land. 

"  At  the  least  we  can  try,"  said  Irene,  while 
she  thought  what  I  have  written  in  these  six 
lines.  And  at  first  she  thought  she  would  send 
Jeannie  back  to  99  "Needy"  Street;  but  then 
she  remembered  that  the  joy  of  inviting  and 
sending  would  be,  in  itself,  so  much  comfort  to 
the  poor  sick  man  ;  and  so  she  only  gave  him 
the  address  of  Feodor  Ivanovitch  at  Mrs.  McGof- 
frn's,  99  Oneida  Street.  He  took  it  really  cheer 
ily,  and  read  it  with  a  smile,  to  say :  "  Feodor 
Ivanovitch !  that  is  like  a  novel  already.  Did 
you  ever  read  Ivan  Ivanovich?  No,  of  course 
you  are  too  young." 


NEITHER  SCRIP  NOR  MONEY.  179 

Irene  did  not  say  that  she  had  read  Homer 
and  the  Book  of  Job,  but  bade  good-by  now, 
and  took  Jeannie  away. 

How  bright  Beacon  Street  seemed  to  her,  and 
how  she  and  Jeannie  beamed  upon  the  babies  in 
the  carriages!  She  asked  Jeannie  if  she  ever 
saw,  in  Aberdeen,  a  perambulator  that  folded  up. 
And  Jeannie  had  seen  one,  and  explained  it  to 
her.  And  Irene  met  ever  so  many  of  her  friends. 
And  one  tall  girl,  whom  she  hardly  knew, 
stopped  her,  and  asked  some  question  ;  and 
Irene  wondered  why  she  stopped  her  to  ask  her 
something  of  no  consequence  at  all.  I  can  tell 
you  why  the  girl  stopped  her ;  she  wanted  to  see 
just  that  look  of  peace  and  of  joy  and  energy  all 
fused  together.  She  wanted  to  go  up  the  hill, 
baptized  again  and  made  alive  in  that  holy 
spirit.  And  Irene  went  down  the  hill  chatter 
ing  with  Jeannie,  but  wondering  why  the  tall 
girl  stopped  her. 

"  Is  Mrs.  Herbert  in  ?  " 

No,  Mrs.  Herbert  was  not  in.  This  was 
Irene's  first  disappointment  of  that  day.  She 
had  just  time  to  think  that ;  for  she  had  really 
wanted  to  see  the  tender,  foreign  face,  broad 


180     HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH  CLUBS. 

at  the  temples,  you  know,  and  with  a  low  fore 
head,  not  looking  in  the  very  least  like  Pallas 
Minerva.  She  had  wanted  to  see  this  again  ; 
but,  if  it  was  not  to  be  so,  why,  it  was  not. 
So  she  simply  left  the  pink  parcel  with  a  doubt 
ing  servant-girl,  who,  even  at  Christmas,  dis 
trusted  Greeks  who  did  not  come  in  carriages, 
even  if  the}r  brought  gifts,  and  left  them. 
Even  in  pink  paper  the  servant-girl  thought 
that  this  was  a  preparation  to  clean  silver,  and 
would  be  called  for  again.  So  she  doubted 
about  taking  it;  but  Irene,  who  understood 
all  this  without  a  word,  left  it  none  the  less, 
and  charged  her  to  give  it  to  Mrs.  Herbert 
the  moment  she  came  in. 

"  Who  shall  I  say  called  ?  "  asked  the  girl, 
at  last  determining  that  this  was  not  powder 
in  disguise. 

"No  matter  who.  Come,  Jeannie,"  to  the 
Scotch  girl,  who  was  wondering  before  a  print 
in  the  hall  of  John  Knox  abusing  Queen  Mary  ; 
and  they  stepped  out  again,  to  meet  poor 
Mrs.  Herbert,  pale  and  wearied,  but  still  so 
tender  and  so  little  like  Pallas  Minerva,  step 
ping  down  from  her  own  carriage. 


NEITHER   SCRIP   NOR   MONEY.  181 

Irene  crossed  the  sidewalk.  "  It  is  Mrs. 
Herbert,  I  believe.  I  have  just  left  at  your 
house  a  little  parcel  which  I  saw  in  your  hand 
in  the  street-car.  You  dropped  it,"  she  said 
hurriedly,  when  she  saw  Mrs.  Herbert  growing 
so  pale  and  almost  gasping  as  she  turned  round 
to  her,  "  and  after  you  had  gone  I  found  it." 

"  I  believe  you  are  an  angel,"  said  the  other. 
"  No,  do  not  go  away  ;  just  come  in  for  one 
moment.  Let  me  tell  you  how  frightened  I 
was,  and  what  a  loss  it  would  have  been." 
And  she  thundered  again  at  the  bell ;  as  if  any 
thunder  would  have  startled  from  her  dime- 
novel,  before  her  time,  the  girl  whose  business 
it  was  to  attend  it,  and  who  simply  said,  when 
she  heard  it  first,  "  Imperdent  critters !  let  'em 
ring  !  " 

At  last,  however,  the  last  chapter  of  the 
novel  was  done,  and  the  girl  let  her  mistress 
and  Irene  in,  both  of  them  almost  crying  with 
excitement  now,  and  Jeannie  wondering,  but 
forgotten,  behind. 

"  Why,  you  see,"  said  the  intense,  overstrung 
lady,  "  you  see,  my  dear  child,  my  brother  sails 
on  Monday.  And  when  'those  people  in  the 


182     HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH  CLUBS. 

railway-office  said  just  now  it  would  be  two 
or  three  days,  perhaps,  before  the  conductor 
brought  it  in.  Besides,  I  did  not  think  I  had 
it  in  the  car.  I  remembered  laying  it  down 
on  the  table  where  we  had  the  meeting.  But 
here  it  is,  do  let  me  show  her  to  you.  My 
dear,  dear  mother !  You  see,"  this  as  she 
pulled  at  the  refractory  string,  "  you  see,  the 
setting  is  all  gold,  and  I  knew,  if  I  lost  it  in 
the  street,  —  why,  my  own  dear  child,  I  might 
never  have  seen  it  again." 

The  string  was  off,  and  she  showed  to  Irene  a 
miniature  picture,  beautiful,  very  beautiful. 

Irene  looked  at  it  long  without  speaking. 
Then  she  said,  "  It  would  be  hard  never  to  see 
that  face  again." 

"And  yet  —  do  you  know?  "  said  Mrs.  Her 
bert,  "  it  is  not  half  beautiful  enough.  This 
is  just  rest,  you  know,  —  yes,  happy  rest,  satis 
fied  rest.  Oh,  I  have  seen  her  look  so  a  thou 
sand  times  !  But  when  she  talked  to  people, 
talked  to  us  children,  you  know,  kept  the  whole 
town  alive,  why,  her  face  nearly  blazed  with 
light.  Of  course  you  could  not  put  that  i*  a 
picture." 


NEITHER   SCRIP   NOR   MONEY.  183 

Then  she  made  Irene  sit  down,  and,  perhaps 
with  something  of  her  mother's  magnetism,  held 
her  there,  as  she  talked  of  her  mother,  of  this 
brother  who  was  to  sail  the  next  week,  of  what 
they  had  been  to  each  other,  and  how  she 
should  miss  him  ;  just  as  if  Irene  were  not  a 
stranger.  Ah,  me  !  was  she  ever  a  stranger  to 
anybody  ? 

"  But,  my  dear  child,  you  look  pale.  Come 
right  here,  come  into  the  dining-room.  My 
lunch  is  all  ready,  too.  Sit  right  down  here. 
Let  me  send  for  a  glass  of  wine.  I  did  not 
see  that  you  were  tired.  I  hope  you  are  not 
as  faint  as  I  am,  now  this  is  all  over." 

And  so  she  made  Irene  stay  and  lunch  with 
her.  She  did  not  remember  Jeannie,  but  Irene 
did.  And  Irene  knew  how  happy  Jeannie  was, 
cruising  round  in  that  front  reception-room 
where  she  had  been  left,  and  inventing  for  her 
self  stories  from  the  hundred  pictures  on  the 
walls.  Nay,  Irene  even  amused  herself  by  the 
contrast  between  Jeannie's  life  and  Mrs.  Her 
bert's.  She  had  called  Jeannie  from  washing 
up  her  "  dinner-things,"  an  hour  ago  ;  and  here 
was  Mrs.  Herbert  refreshing  herself,  that  she 


184      HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH    CLUBS. 

might  await  her  dinner  five  hours  hence.  As 
for  Irene,  she  was  hungry  and  was  faint,  and 
was  glad  that  Mrs.  Herbert  asked  her  to  lunch. 
If  it  had  not  been  for  the  pink-paper  parcel, 
she  would  have  stopped  at  the  B.  Y.  M.  C.  U. 
coffee-room,  and  have  eaten  what  Bridget  used 
to  call  a  "  bully  of  beef,"  and  Mr.  Woodbury 
would  have  punched  out  the  worth  of  it  from 
her  ticket. 

And  so  these  two  women  sat,  and  Mrs.  Her 
bert  poured  out  the  whole  story  of  her  agony 
when  she  had  discovered  her  loss ;  how  she 
came  to  have  the  picture  with  her,  she  told 
that ;  why  she  had  it  in  her  hand  as  the  safest 
way  to  carry  it,  she  told  that.  Some  sexes 
will  understand  this  last,  without  explanation  : 
to  other  sexes  the  safety  of  this  method  of 
preserving  small  valuables  will  be  a  marvel  for 
ever.  And,  when  once  more  she  had  thanked 
Irene  for  coming,  she  said,  so  pleasantly :  — 

"  I  saw  you  too.  I  was  wondering  about 
you,  and  making  a  romance  about  you,  all 
the  time.  Who  your  Tartar  friend  was,  I 
wondered ;  and  I  heard  the  funny  boy  jabber 
German  to  him.  It  was  mean,  but  I  could  not 


NEITHER   SCRIP   NOR   MONEY.  185 

\ 

help  listening.  It  sounded  so  like  dear  Blank- 
enheim." 

"  Why  !  "  said  Irene,  interrupting.  "  He 
showed  me  a  letter  from  Blankenheim  only  this 
very  morning." 

"  Did  he  ?  Why,  where  is  he  ?  who  is  he  ? 
I  must  see  him.  Can  you  send  him  here,  my 
dear  Miss  —  Why,  what  is  your  name  ?  I  felt 
as  if  I  had  known  you  always,  and  now  I  do 
not  know  what  your  name  is." 

Irene  laughed  and  told,  and  then  the  impet 
uous  lady  rushed  on.  She  had  none  of  the 
shyness  of  Mrs.  Donne  —  not  a  bit  of  it! 

"  Why,  I  spent  five  —  six  —  years  of  the  best 
years  of  my  girlhood  in  Blankeiiheim.  Look 
here,  and  here,  and  here  !  These  are  pictures 
Horace  made  there.  And  here,  —  is  not  this 
pretty  ?  There,  I  lived  in  that  room ;  see, 
that  window,  just  above  the  poplar,  is  my 
window." 

And  so  they  fell  back  to  talk  about  Rudolf 
and  the  Russian  ;  and  Irene  told  of  the  coinci 
dence  about  the  Russian  books  and  the  pale 
gentleman  at  Mrs.  Donne's. 

"Did  he  rouse  up  so?     Poor,  dear  fellow. 


18G     HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH  CLUBS. 

that  is  the  best  I  have  heard  to-day.  There 
he  lies,  you  know,  all  worn  out.  It  would  be 
wicked  to  say  blase,  for  he  is  not  one  whit 
blase,  but  it  seems  so.  That  beautiful  house, 
you  know,  and  that  lovely  wife,  and  those 
books,  and  all  he  knows,  you  know,  for  he 
knows  everything,  and  yet  every  day  so  dark 
to  him,  and  the  outlook  so  gloomy." 

"  Why,  what  is  the  matter  ?  " 

"  Matter  ?  What  is  the  matter  with  any  of 
us  ?  Living  forty  times  too  fast.  Just  as  bad 
for  good  people  to  do  so  as  for  bad  people  ; 
just  as  bad  for  learned  people  like  him,  as  for 
fools  like  me.  '  Nervous  exhaustion,'  they  call 
it,  — '  nervous  depression.'  Used  up  ten  years 
of  life  in  five,  I  say.  And  he  did  it  just  as 
much,  you  know,  in  all  his  mines  and  smelt- 
ing-works  and  machines,  and  presiding  at  the 
Hospital,  and  building  the  Athenaeum,  and 
arranging  about  the  Convalescent  Home,  just 
as  much  as  if  he  had  been  the  worst  roue  of 
them  all.  And  then,  that  angel  of  a  wife  of 
his  just  sits  by,  and  sends  for  doctors,  and 
nurses  him.  And  he  thinks  he  shall  die  in  a 
poor-house,  and  won't  so  much  as  buy  himself  a 


NEITHER  SCRIP   NOR   MONEY.  187 

shoe-string,  and  is  all  used  up  and  wretched. 
Now  you  have  given  him  one  cheerful  hour. 
Miss  May  hew,  it  is  the  best  present  that  has 
been  made  to-day." 

Then  she  fell  to  asking  more  about  the 
Russian ;  and  why  Irene  had  said  that  Mr. 
Donne  would  do  better  with  him  in  Swedish 
than  in  German.  "  He  does  not  know  much 
Swedish,"  said  she,  "  though  they  did  spend 
some  time  in  Stockholm.  I  mean  to  send  Inge- 
borg  in  there.  You  must  see  Ingeborg  ;  she  is 
so  pretty."  And  then  she  rang,  and  made  a 
message  for  Ingeborg  to  come  in,  and  asked 
Ingeborg  about  the  sewing.  Ingeborg  was  a 
Swedish  girl  who  was  the  seamstress.  She 
stood  a  minute  and  made  pretty  answers  in 
German,  and  then  went  away. 

"  The  sweetest  creature  in  the  world,"  said 
her  mistress ;  "  reads  everything  I  read,  and 
much  more.  I  made  her  read  me  '  The  Chil 
dren  of  the  Lord's  Supper '  in  the  Swedish, 
lust  that  I  might  hear  the  pretty  words."  And 
she  repeated  in  the  Swedish  the  closing  lines. 

So  half  an  hour  sped  very  pleasantly.  And 
when  Irene  called  Jeannie  from  her  dream  of 


188  HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH  CLUBS. 

romance,  and  they  walked  across  the  Public 
Garden  together,  and  Jeanuie  thanked  her  for 
taking  her  with  her,  and  told  her  it  was  the 
best  Christmas  present  she  ever  had,  —  why,  it 
occurred  to  Irene,  all  at  once,  that,  in  starting 
to  give  the  rest  of  the  world  a  Christmas  pres 
ent,  she  had  given  one  to  herself  as  well. 

Should  she  go  down  to  No.  99  "  Needy " 
Street,  to  see  that  there  was  no  botch  there  ? 
No,  she  would  not  go.  They  were  not  fools ; 
they  would  take  care  of  themselves.  She  would 
go  home  in  the  lovely  winter  afternoon,  and 
write  a  letter  to  somebody  to  tell  the  adven 
tures  of  the  day. 

Not  that  they  seemed  to  her  specially  varied ; 
all  life  was  varied  for  her,  and  very  full ;  but 
she  did  think  that  they  ranged  rather  wider 
in  their  interest  than  was  usual  even  in  her 
adventures. 

So,  before  she  was  tired,  she  was  at  her 
pretty  Davenport,  in  her  pretty  room,  looking 
out  over  the  Valley  Beautiful  upon  the  Delec-> 
table  Mountains,  as  the  sun  was  setting  cheerily 
on  them,  and  lighting  them  up  with  the  glories 
of  amber  and  gold  and  fire. 


CHAPTER    III. 

ANOTHER    YEAR 

HOW  quickly  a  year  goes  round  ! 
And  this  year  the  snow  had  fallen  as 
early  as  Thanksgiving.  And  on  Adam  and 
Eve's  Day,  in  the  morning,  a  little  fresh  fall 
had  made  every  roadway  look  as  if  it  were  ready 
for  a  wedding.  But  the  sky  had  cleared,  and  it 
was,  oh,  so  blue  !  And  Irene  came  out  and 
stood  on  the  top  of  the  high  steps,  and  looked 
across  the  Valley  Beautiful  to  the  Delectable 
Mountains. 

She  was  in  a  seal-skin  sack  this  time,  and 
she  wore  a  pretty  Polish  cap,  all  ready  for  a 
sleigh-ride  ;  and  as,  with  her  deep  brown  eyes, 
she  looked  into  the  blue,  you  would  have 
known  that  she  was  looking  into  heaven. 

Just  a  minute  she  stood  there,  and  then 
up  drove  a  heavily-robed  sleigh ;  and  Horace 
Whittier,  who  drove  the  handsome  horses,  flung 
down  the  reins,  sure  that  they  would  stand, 


190     HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH   CLUBS. 

and  ran  up  the  steps,  and  caught  her  by  both 
hands. 

"lam  ten  minutes  early!"  cried  he,  "but 
you  are  earlier.  Victory,  victory  !  She  waits 
on  the  steps  for  her  impatient  lover." 

"  Impudent  boy !  "  said  Irene,  as  he  almost 
lifted  her  into  the  sleigh,  "  is  there  nothing  in 
the  world  but  you  and  your  old  horses  ?  Would 
not  anybody,  with  half  a  quarter  of  an  eye, 
want  to  stand  and  see  that  snow  on  the  ever 
greens,  and  my  dear  old  Blue  Hills  white 
against  the  sky?  And  you  suppose  I  was 
waiting  for  you  ?  " 

"  Anyway,"  said  he  happily,  as  he  tucked  her 
in,  "  it  is  lucky  I  came  early." 

**  I  think  you  are  apt  to  come  early,"  said  she, 
and  they  laughed  happily  as  they  started. 

"  Dear  child,"  said  Horace,  "  these  bear-skins 
are  the  most  false  of  shams.  This  thing  we  sit 
in  is  nothing  but  an  express  wagon.  I  made 
just  room  enough  for  your  little  feet ;  lucky 
they  are  so  little.  But  for  me,  what  with 
Noah's-arks  and  tin  horses,  and  the  Dutchman 
and  his  wife,  and  battledoors,  —  I  am  sure  I 
put  my  heel  through  the  battledoors,  —  and 


NEITHER   SCRIP   NOR  MONEY.  191 

the  thermometer  that  I  sat  upon,  and  my  poor 
sister's  glass  shade,  which  I  am  afraid  I  drove 
the  whip-stock  through,  —  for  me,  I  should  be 
very  uncomfortable  if  you  were  not  here.  You 
do  not  think  all  these  people  would  mind  if  I 
just  melted  the  rime  on  my  moustache  by  rest 
ing  it  for  an  instant  on  that  velvet  cheek  of 
yours,  —  do  you  ?  ' ' 

"  Horace,  if  you  do  not  talk  sense,  I  will 
beckon  to  that  conductor,  and  go  for  my  errands 
in  the  Paul  Dudley.  People  ride  in  the  Paul 
Dudley  without  having  idiots  talk  to  them." 

"  Sweetheart,  the  Paul  Dudley  shall  be  hung 
this  day  with  camellias  and  orange-blossoms.  It 
was  in  the  Paul  Dudley  that  you  found  the  pict 
ure.  If  it  had  not  been  for  the  Paul  Dudley 
and  the  picture,  where  should  I  have  been  this 
day?"  and  now  he  was  very  serious. 

"  Dear  Horace,"  said  she,  "  it  was  to  be,  and 
forty  Paul  Dudleys  could  not  help  it.  Some 
things  are  written  in  heaven."  So  they  talked, 
now  of  the  gravest  and  now  of  the  gayest; 
laughed  sometimes,  and  all  but  cried  sometimes, 
as  he  told  some  story  of  his  adventurous  life, — 
or  she  some  story  of  hers,  so  quiet ;  but  he  said 


192     HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH  CLUBS. 

that  hers  was  more  adventurous  than  his.  They 
talked,  they  laughed,  or  they  were  even  silent, 
in  all  the  joy  and  certainty  of  happy  love. 

"  How  splendid  your  bear-skin  cap  is  !  "  said 
she ;  "  it'  it  were  only  after  dark  when  we  came 
to  Oneida  Street,  we  might  ask  the  policeman 
to  show  us  the  road  to  the  roof  of  the  houses, 
and  you  could  go  down  ih°i  chimney  with  the 
Noah's-arks  and  things,  while  I  held  the  pawing 
steeds  on  the  ridge-pole.  On  the  whole,  I  am 
rather  glad  the  methods  of  civilization  don't  re 
quire  us  to  ride  on  ridge-poles.  I  am  sure  I 
should  be  frightened.  You  mustn't  stay  too 
long,  and  I  don't  think  I  will  get  out.  Just  at 
noon  we  must  be  at  the  wedding ;  and  there  's 
the  hospital  and  Jeannie's  people  beside." 

"Never  fear  me  about  being  late  at  wed 
dings,"  said  the  impetuous  Horace  ;  "sometimes 
I  think  I  can  never  wait  till  they  come.  But  the 
longest  lane  turns  at  last." 

"  I  tell  you,"  said  she,  "  that  you  are  such  a 
favorite  with  Mrs.  McGoffin,  that  you  will  stand 
whispering  soft  nothings  in  her  ear  while  I  am 
freezing  to  death  here ;  and  at  last  I  shall  take 
mercy  on  the  horses,  and  walk  them  ten  or 


NEITHER   SCRIP   NOR   MONEY,  193 

twenty  times  up  the  street  and  down,  and  they 
will  take  fright  in  Harrison  Avenue,  and  run 
five  miles,  and  I  shall  lie  over  the  back  of  the  seat 
screaming, '  Horace,  Horace  ! '  and  you  will  have 
no  clew  to  follow  by  but  a  line  of  Noah's-arks 
and  thermometers  on  the  road ;  and  a  mounted 
policeman  will  come  to  the  rescue,  and  will  take 
me  to  a  grausome  church  near  Punkapog,  and 
insist  that  I  shall  be  his  wife." 

"  Irene,  I  will  kill  that  policeman !  I  shall 
arrive  on  my  bicycle  just  in  time;  and  when  the 
minister  says,  '  Does  any  man  know  cause  ?  '  I 
shall  say  '  I  do.'  I  shall  shoot  him  with  his  own 
revolver ;  I  shall  take  his  place,  and  for  once  a 
wedding  will  come  off  earlier  than  it  was  ex 
pected.  Never  you  fear  Mrs.  McGoffin's  fas 
cinations.  I  shall  be  down  in  twenty  seconds, 
before  the  horses  know  that  I  have  stopped." 

Nor  did  he  much  exaggerate  his  own  speed. 
He  left  the  Noah's-arks  and  horses  and  guns 
and  swords  and  cups  and  balls  and  the  prayer- 
book  and  the  tippet,  for  Mrs.  McGoffin,  Dennis 
McGoffin,  and  all  the  little  McGoffins,  and  was 
down,  as  he  said  himself,  "  in  no  time."  Then 
to  Jeannie's  friends,  with  the  self-registering 
13 


194     HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH  CLUBS. 

thermometer  and  the  Scott's  Poems  for  the  old 
people,  and  no  end  of  parcels  for  the  youngsters. 
Here,  too,  he  left  Irene's  Christmas  wishes,  and 
told  why  Irene  could  not  stay  long  that  day. 

At  the  hospital  they  both  alighted  together. 
Of  course  the  children  of  a  year  ago  were  gone. 
But  life  is  almost  as  finite  at  one  Christmas-tide 
as  at  another :  so  there  was  no  lack,  alas,  of 
broken  arms  and  broken  legs  and  burned  hands 
among  the  little  ones.  This  year  there  were  no 
paper  soldiers  for  them  ;  but,  by  the  time  they 
said  good-by,  each  child  had  on  his  bed-table 
a  box  of  pewter  soldiers,  Prussian  for  the  Ger 
man  girl,  French  for  the  French  boy,  red-coats 
for  little  Johnny  Bull,  and  even  Highlanders 
for  the  little  Sawney.  These,  and  two  or  three 
books  for  the  bigger  children,  left  the  surgical 
ward  happy. 

"  Thirteen  minutes  for  the  Weis  children !  " 
cried  he,  "  and  then  there  will  be  not  a  magnet 
nor  a  Noah's-ark  in  the  shebang."  Nor  was 
there. 

Then,  as  on  the  wings  of  the  wind,  he  cut 
across  to  the  little  Swedish  Emanuel  Church ; 
and  here  was  Tom,  waiting  for  the  horses.  And, 


NEITHER   SCRIP   NOR   MONEY.  195 

quite  in  time,  Horace  gravely  led  Irene  up  the 
right-hand  aisle,  and  a  very  famous  usher,  with 
an  enormous  bridal  favor,  placed  him  and  her 
in  a  pew  among  the  bridegroom's  friends. 

"  I  told  him  to  put  us  here,"  whispered  he, 
"  because  I  was  so  afraid  the  bride  would  have 
more  on  her  side  than  poor  Feodor.  She  is  so 
pretty,  you  know." 

"  You  must  not  talk  in  meeting.  You  must 
sit  perfectly  still." 

Nor  did  he  have  to  wait  long  before  the 
bride's  procession  moved  up  one  aisle ;  and  the 
pretty  Ingeborg,  blushing  under  her  orange- 
blossoms  and  her  lace  veil,  met,  face  to  face, 
the  handsome,  proud,  olive-faced  Feodor,  who 
appeared,  with  his  best  men,  at  the  head  of  his 
aisle;  and  then  in  the  quaint,  homely  Swed 
ish,  and  by  that  pretty  form  of  service,  dear, 
good  Mr.  Johanssen  made  them  one. 

Then,  as  is  the  sensible  custom  of  the  olden 
churches,  all  the  friends  met  for  a  moment  to 
sign  the  register.  So  in  the  vestry,  while  it  was 
got  ready,  Mr.  Donne  and  his  wife,  Mrs.  Her 
bert,  Horace,  and  Irene,  as  well  as  Mrs.  Mc- 
Goffin  and  Dennis,  and  Jeannie  and  her  father 


196     HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH  CLUBS. 

and  mother,  all  stood  together,  making,  indeed, 
near  half  of  the  witnesses. 

"  Thank  you  so  for  the  Patriarch's  Sermons," 
said  Irene  to  Mr.  Donne.  "  As  soon  as  we  are 
well  on  our  journey,  I  shall  make  Horace  read 
them  aloud  to  me." 

And  Mr.  Donne  seemed  like  a  different  man 
from  that  poor,  languid  fellow  we  saw  a  year 
before,  as  he  said  eagerly :  — 

"  You  will  find  the  Poems  at  your  house. 
Roberts  has  sent  the  first  volume  from  the  bind 
er's  for  a  wedding  present." 

"  I  believe,  Mr.  Donne,  you  claim  the  making 
of  this  match,"  said  Horace,  as  he  approached 
them  ;  "  now  I  thought  it  was  my  blunder." 

"  Yours !  how  yours  ?  " 

"  Why,  because  she  was  my  sister's  best 
bower,  don't  you  see  ?  " 

"  Your  sister's  fiddlestick  !  The  Tartar,  there, 
looks  to  me  as  if  he  thought  he  made  it.  For 
my  part,  I  give  Miss  Mayhew  the  credit." 

Meanwhile  Mrs.  Donne  was  hovering  round 
Irene,  and  asking  about  the  evening,  and  talking 
about  her  husband,  and  making  her  remember 
how  ill  he  was,  and  making  her  wonder  how 
well  he  seemed  now. 


NEITHER   SCRIP   NOR  MONEY,  197 

"  I  believe,  Irene,  the  day  you  came  in  and 
set  him  to  work  on  other  people,  that  day 
dates  his  recovery." 

"  He  has  sent  me  the  volume  of  Philarete's 
Sermons ;  and  I  shall  make  Horace  read  them 
to  me." 

"You  will  find  that  easy  enough.  They  are 
just  such  sermons  as  men  like.  They  are  the 
Patriarch's  annual  reviews  of  the  social  condi 
tion  of  Russia,  you  know.  They  are  not  a  bit 
like  what  we  call  sermons." 

"And  the  Poems?" 

"  Oh  !  the  drollest,  weirdest,  most  enticing, 
and  most  provoking  things  you  ever  saw.  But, 
Irene,  have  you  seen  Rudolf?  You  will  not 
know  him  in  his  ulster.  He  is  at  the  door  with 
the  horses.  Do  you  know  Edward  says  that 
boy  is  a  genius  ?  But  you  found  that  out 
too." 

Irene,  in  another  minute,  was  kissing  Inge- 
borg.  Then  she  gavo  her  hand  to  Feodor. 

"  It  was  a  happy  day,  I  assure  you,  for  me, 
Miss  Mayhew,"  said  he,  in.  that  preternaturally 
accurate  English  which  Russians  speak  when 
they  speak  any,  "  the  day  I  met  you  in  the 


198     HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH    CLUBS. 

hospital."  "  And  the  day  when  my  little  Ru 
dolf  piloted  you  to  Mr.  Donne."  "  And  the 
day  when  Ingeborg  came  in  to  help  out  his 
Swedish,"  said  the  proud  bridegroom. 

And  here  came  Mr.  Johanssen  and  his  clerk, 
with  the  big  book  of  the  register. 

And,  after  they  had  all  signed,  the  minister 
bade  the  bride  and  bridegroom  good-by,  with  a 
sort  of  benediction  ;  and  then  with  much  hand- 
clapping,  and  gratulations  in  many  languages, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ivanovitch  withdrew,  and  he 
lifted  her  to  the  waiting  carriage. 

"  Irene,"  said  the  impetuous  Mrs.  Herbert  as 
they  looked  from  the  window,  "I  want  you  to 
notice  that  faultless  polonaise  of  hers.  Now 
you  think  Madame  Pierrot  made  it,  and  well 
you  may.  But  she  did  not.  It  is  Ingeborg's 
own  idea,  to  tell  the  truth  ;  but  every  piece  was 
cut,  and  every  stitch  taken,  by  your  Jeannie 
Fraser.  The  girl  is  an  artist." 

"  And  so  you  will  find  her,  Fanny.  She  will 
not  run  your  Wheeler  &  Wilson  long.  Before 
you  are  five  years  older  she  will  be  in  your  bil 
liard-room,  using  the  upper  light  as  she  models 
her  group  of  "  — 


NEITHER   SCRIP   NOR   MONEY.  199 

"  Come,  Irene,  come,  Irene,  you  and  Fanny 
must  not  philosophize  forever.  The  Lady 
Irene's  shebang  stops  the  way,  and  Tom  is 
dying  to  get  out  of  it ;  I  to  get  in.  Good-by, 
good  people,  good-by."  And  so  wedding  num 
ber  one  ended. 


CHAPTER  LAST. 

TWO   BY   TWO. 

Church  of  Glad  Tidings  was  dimly 
lighted  that  same  evening.  In  festoons 
on  the  pulpit  and  the  font,  in  lines  marking  the 
shape  of  the  cross  behind  the  pulpit,  there  was 
enough  evergreen  to  show  that  this  was  Christ 
mas  time.  On  the  communion-table  itself  was 
a  heap  of  beautiful  flowers,  which  covered  the 
low  vase  whose  waters  kept  them  fresh.  The 
font  was  overflowing  too  with  white  flowers; 
and  so  one  knew  that  here  were  preparations 
for  a  festival.  From  the  organ  came  heavenly, 
sympathizing,  and  peaceful  harmonies.  And,  in 
the  front  pews,  perhaps  a  hundred  people  waited 


20t7     flARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH  CLUBS. 

quietly,  —  among  them  everybody  we  met  at 
Ingeborg's  wedding,  except  Mr.  Johanssen  and 
his  clerk,  and  two  others.  And  many  more 
were  there,  of  whom  it  has  not  been  necessary 
to  advise  this  reader.  The  minister  sat  in  his 
great  high-backed  chair,  holding  his  book  in 
his  hand. 

Quietly,  and  without  any  one's  knowing  the 
moment  of  their  entrance  except  the  minister, 
Horace  and  Irene  came  into  the  church  to 
gether,  and  walked  slowly  up  to  the  chancel. 
The  church  flashed  light  for  their  welcome. 
The  minister  stood  up  to  greet  them,  and,  as 
the  strains  of  the  organ  died  away,  began  the 
service  :  "  We  are  gathered  together,"  — 

And  as  he  looked  upon  her  face,  as  their  eyes 
met,  it  was  as  the  face  of  an  angel — love,  cour 
age,  truth,  and  peace.  And  then  he  could  look 
into  Horace's  face,  and  there  was  the  happy, 
strong  look  of  a  brave  man, — joy,  courage, 
certainty,  peace. 

I  suppose  Irene's  dress,  which  was  a  present 
from  Mrs.  Herbert,  was  like  other  people's  wed 
ding  dresses.  I  sat  rather  back  in  the  church ; 
but  I  am  sure  it  was  not  a  claret-colored  alpaca. 


NEITHER   SCRIP   NOR   MONEY.  201 

Indeed  I  know,  from  some  notes  before  me — • 
why  should  I  conceal  it  from  you,  dear  Fanchon 
and  dear  Dick? —  I  know  that  it  was  of  a  creamy- 
white  brocade.  You  thought  the  veil  was  of 
Valenciennes  ?  Yes !  but  in  truth  it  was  made 
on  cushions,  in  Dunrobiri  Alley,  by  Rudolf  Weis's 
own  mother,  who  had  been  taught  all  that  art 
in  Belgium,  before  she  was  sixteen  years  old. 
That  was  her  present  to  the  bride.  And  the 
myrtle  wreath  the  bride  wore,  with  its  lovely 
blossoms,  was  from  myrtle,  every  spray  of  which 
Rudolf  himself  had  grown  in  his  own  windows. 

And  this  bouquet,  which  even  Horace  let  her 
carry  instead  of  an  orthodox  bouquet  of  orange- 
blossoms, —  you  see  how  pretty  it  is,  though  it 
is  not  all  white,  —  it  is  made,  every  leaf  of  it, 
from  the  flowers  the  hospital  children  have  been 
nursing  in  their  own  windows.  The  Maltese 
cross  she  wears  is  Edward  Donne's  present;  and 
the  bouquet-holder  —  all  that  curious  open  sil 
ver  filigree- work  —  is  the  work  of  Feodor's  own 
hands.  There  is  Feodor,  and  there  is  Ingeborg 
with  him,  in  the  third  pew  on  the  bridegroom's 
side. 

There  is  not  a  person  in  the  church,  from  the 


202  HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH  CLUBS. 

old  minister  forward,  but  would  gladly  die  for 
Irene,  though  they  would  all  rather  live  for  her. 
There  is  not  a  person  here  but  is  perfectly 
happy,  because  she  is  perfectly  happy,  —  or  they 
hope  she  will  be.  Perfectly  happy  she  is,  or 
she  thinks  she  is.  Perfectly  happy  is  he,  or  he 
thinks  he  is.  But  how  little  he  knows  or  she 
knows  yet  what  a  life  of  perfect  happiness  is ! 
How  much  better  will  they  know  even  twelve 
months  from  to-day !  , 

So  the  minister  blessed  them  with  all  his 
heart.  And  the  organ  waked  from  its  silence, 
and  sounded  forth  the  wedding-march ;  and 
Horace  led  her  in  triumph  from  the  church, 
and  we  all  followed : 

"  Two  by  two ;  that  is  the  rule." 


To  illustrate  another  form  of  the  willingness 
to  Lend  a  Hand,  I  wrote  STAND  AND  WAIT. 


STAND    AND    WAIT: 

A  STORY  OF  CHRISTMAS. 


CHAPTER   I. 

CHKISTMAS  EVE. 

"  '~pHEY  'VE  come  !  they  've  come  !  " 

-*•  This  was  the  cry  of  little  Herbert,  as 
he  ran  in  from  the  square  stone  which  made 
the  large  doorstep  of  the  house.  Here  he  had 
been  watching,  a  self-posted  sentinel,  for  the 
moment  when  the  carriage  should  turn  the  cor 
ner  at  the  bottom  of  the  hill. 

"  They  've  come  !  they  've  come  !  "  echoed 
joyfully  through  the  house  ;  and  the  cry  pen 
etrated  out  into  the  extension,  or  L,  where 
the  grown  members  of  the  family  were,  in  the 
kitchen,  " getting  tea"  by  some  formulas  more 
solemn  than  ordinary. 

"  Have  they  come  ?  "  cried  Grace  ;  and  she 
set  her  skillet  back  to  the  quarter-deck,  or  after- 
part  of  the  stove,  lest  its  white  contents  should 


204      HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH  CLUBS. 

burn  while  she  was  away.  She  threw  a  waiting 
handkerchief  over  her  shoulders,  and  ran  with 
the  others  to  the  front  door,  to  wave  something 
white,  and  to  be  in  at  the  first  welcome. 

Young  and  old  were  gathered  there  in  that 
hospitable  open  space,  where  the  side  road  swept 
up  to  the  barn  on  its  way  from  the  main  road. 
The  bigger  boys  of  the  home  party  had  scat 
tered  half-way  down  the  hill  by  this  time. 
Even  grandmamma  had  stepped  down  from  the 
stone,  and  walked  half-way  to  the  roadway. 
Every  one  was  waving  something.  Those  who 
had  no  handkerchiefs  had  hats  or  towels  to 
wave  ;  and  the  more  advanced  boys  began  an 
undefined  or  irregular  cheer. 

But  the  carryall  advanced  slowly  up  the  hill, 
with  no  answering  handkerchief,  and  no  bon 
neted  head  stretched  out  from  the  side.  And, 
as  it  neared  Sam  and  Andrew,  their  enthusiasm 
could  be  seen  to  droop,  and  George  and  Her 
bert  stopped  their  cheers  as  it  came  up  to  them  ; 
and  before  it  was  near  the  house,  on  its  grieved 
way  up  the  hill,  the  bad  news  had  come  up  be 
fore  it,  as  bad  news  will,  —  "  She  has  not  come, 
after  all." 


STAND    AND   WAIT.  205 

It  was  Huldah  Root,  Grace's  older  sister, 
who  had  not  come.  John  Root,  their  father, 
had  himself  driven  down  to  the  station  to  meet 
her  ;  and  Abner,  her  oldest  brother,  had  gone 
with  him.  It  was  two  years  since  she  had  been 
at  home,  and  the  whole  family  was  on  tiptoe  to 
welcome  her.  Hence  the  unusual  tea  prepara 
tion  ;  hence  the  sentinel  on  the  doorstep  ;  hence 
the  general  assembly  in  the  yard  ;  and,  after  all, 
she  had  not  come !  It  was  a  wretched  disap 
pointment.  Her  mother  had  that  heavy,  silent 
look,  which  children  take  as  the  heaviest  afflic 
tion  of  all,  when  they  see  it  in  their  mothers' 
faces.  John  Root  himself  led  the  horse  into 
the  barn,  as  if  he  did  not  care  now  for  anything 
which  might  happen  in  heaven  above  or  in 
earth  beneath.  The  boys  were  voluble  in  their 
rage  :  "  It  is  too  bad  !  "  and,  "  Grandmamma, 
don't  you  think  it  is  too  bad  ?  "  and,  "  It  is  the 
meanest  thing  I  ever  heard  of  in  all  my  life ! " 
and,  "  Grace,  why  don't  you  say  anything? 
Did  you  ever  know  anything  so  mean  ? "  As 
for  poor  Grace  herself,  she  was  quite  beyond 
saying  anything.  All  the  treasured  words  she 
had  laid  up  to  say  to  Huldah  ;  all  the  doubts 


206     HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH  CLUBS. 

and  hopes  and  guesses,  which  were  secret  to 
all  but  God,  but  which  were  to  be  poured  out  in 
Huldah's  ear  as  soon  as  they  were  alone,  were 
coming  up  one  by  one,  as  if  to  choke  her.  She 
had  waited  so  long  for  this  blessed  fortnight 
of  sympathy,  and  now  she  had  lost  it.  Grace 
could  say  nothing.  And  poor  grandmamma,  on 
whom  fell  the  quieting  of  the  boys,  was  at 
heart  as  wretched  as  any  of  them. 

Somehow,  something  got  itself  put  on  the 
supper-table  ;  and,  when  John  Root  and  Abner 
came  in  from  the  barn,  they  all  sat  down  to  pre 
tend  to  eat  something.  What  a  miserable  con 
trast  to  the  Christinas  Eve  party  which  had 
been  expected  ! 

The  observance  of  Christmas  is  quite  a  nov 
elty  in  the  heart  of  New  England  among  the 
lords  of  the  manor.  Wiuslow  and  Brewster, 
above  Plymouth  Rock,  celebrated  their  first 
Christmas  by  making  all  hands  work  all  day  in 
the  raising  of  their  first  house.  It  was  in  that 
way  that  a  Christian  empire  was  begun.  They 
builded  better  than  they  knew.  They  and 
theirs,  in  that  hard  day's  work,  struck  the  key 
note  for  New  England  for  two  centuries  and  a 


STAND   AND   WAIT.  207 

half.  And  many  and  many  a  New  Englander, 
still  in  middle  life,  remembers  that  in  childhood, 
though  nurtured  in  Christian  homes,  he  could 
not  have  told,  if  he  were  asked,  on  what  day  of 
the  year  Christmas  fell.  But  as  New  England, 
in  the  advance  of  the  world,  has  come  into  the 
general  life  of  the  world,  she  has  shown  no  in 
aptitude  for  the  greater  enjoyments  of  life  ;  and, 
with  the  true  catholicity  of  her  great  Congrega 
tional  system,  her  people  and  her  churches  seize, 
one  after  another,  all  the  noble  traditions  of  the 
loftiest  memories.  And  so  in  this  matter  we 
have  in  hand :  it  happened  that  the  Roots,  in 
their  hillside  home,  had  determined  that  they 
would  celebrate  Christmas,  as  never  had  Roots 
done  before  since  Josiah  Root  landed  at  Salem 
from  the  Hercules,  with  other  Kentish  people, 
in  1635.  Abner  and  Gershom  had  cut  and 
trimmed  a  pretty  fir-balsam  from  the  edge  of 
the  Hotchkiss  clearing,  and  it  was  now  in  the 
best  parlor.  Grace,  with  Mary  Bickford,  her 
firm  ally  and  other  self,  had  gilded  nuts,  and 
rubbed  lady-apples,  and  strung  popped  corn ; 
and  the  tree  had  been  dressed  in  secret,  the 
youngsters  all  locked  and  warned  out  from  the 


208     HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH  CLUBS. 

room.  The  choicest  turkeys  of  the  drove,  and 
the  tenderest  geese  from  the  herd,  and  the 
plumpest  fowls  from  the  barnyard,  had  been  sac 
rificed  on  consecrated  altars.  And  all  this  was 
but  as  accompaniment  and  side  illustration  of 
the  great  glory  of  the  celebration,  which  was 
that  Huldah,  after  her  two  years'  absence,  IIul- 
dah  was  to  come  home. 

And  now  she  had  not  come,  —  nay,  was  not 
coming  ! 

As  they  sat  down  at  their  Barmecide  feast, 
how  wretched  the  assemblage  of  unrivalled 
dainties  seemed  !  John  Root  handed  to  his  wife 
their  daughter's  letter  ;  she  read  it  and  gave 
it  to  Grace,  who  read  it,  and  gave  it  to  her 
grandmother.  No  one  read  it  aloud.  To  read 
aloud  in  such  trials  is  not  the  custom  of  New 

England. 

BOSTON,  Dec   24,  1848. 

DEAR  FATHER  AND  MOTHER;  It  is  dread 
ful  to  disappoint  you  all,  but  I  cannot  come. 
I  am  all  ready,  and  this  goes  by  the  carriage  that 
was  to  take  me  to  the  cars.  But  our  dear  little 
Horace  has  just  been  brought  home,  I  am  afraid, 
dying ;  but  we  cannot  tell,  and  I  cannot  leave 


STAND    AND   WAIT.  209 

him.  You  know  there  is  really  no  one  who  can 
do  what  I  can.  He  was  riding  on  his  pony. 
First  the  pony  came  home  alone  ;  and,  in  five 
minutes  after,  two  policemen  brought  the  dear 
child  in  a  carriage.  His  poor  mother  is  very 
calm,  but  cannot  think  yet,  or  do  anything. 
We  have  sent  for  his  father,  who  is  down-town. 
I  try  to  hope  that  he  may  come  to  himself ;  but 
he  only  lies  and  draws  long  breaths  on  his  little 
bed.  The  doctors  are  with  him  now  ;  and  I 
write  this  little  scrawl  to  say  how  dreadfully 
sorry  I  am.  A  Merry  Christmas  to  you  all.  Do 
not  be  troubled  about  me. 

Your  own  loving 

HULDAH. 

P.  S.  I  have  got  some  little  presents  for  the 
children  ;  but  they  are  all  in  my  trunk,  and  I 
cannot  get  them  out  now.  I  will  make  a  bun 
dle  Monday.  Good-by.  The  man  is  waiting. 

This  was  the  letter  that  was  passed  from 
hand  to  hand,  of  which  the  contents  slowly 
trickled  into  the  comprehension  of  all  parties, 
according  as  their  several  ages  permitted  them 


210      HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH  CLUBS. 

to  comprehend.  Sam,  as  usual,  broke  the  si 
lence  by  saying :  — 

"  It  is  a  perfect  shame  !  She  might  as  well  be 
a  nigger  slave  !  I  suppose  they  think  they  have 
bought  her  and  sold  her.  I  should  like  to  see 
'em  all,  just  for  once,  and  tell  'em  that  her  flesh 
and  blood  is  as  good  as  theirs;  and  that,  with 
all  their  airs  and  their  money,  they  've  no  busi 
ness  to  "  — 

"Sam,"  said  poor  Grace,  "you  shall  not  say 
such  things.  Huldah  has  stayed  because  she 
chose  to  stay  ;  and  that  is  the  worst  of  it.  She 
will  not  think  of  herself,  not  for  one  minute ; 
arid  so  —  everything  happens." 

And  Grace  was  sobbing  beyond  speech  again  ; 
and  her  intervention  amounted,  therefore,  to 
little  or  nothing.  The  boys,  through  the  even 
ing,  descanted  among  themselves  on  the  outrage. 
Grandmamma,  and,  at  last,  their  mother,  took 
successive  turns  in  taming  their  indignation ; 
but,  for  all  this,  it  was  a  miserable  evening. 
As  for  John  Root,  he  took  a  lamp  in  one  hand, 
and  the  Weekly  Tribune  in  the  other,  and  sat 
before  the  fire  and  pretended  to  read ;  but  not 
once  did  John  Root  change  the  fold  of  the  paper 


STAND   AND    WAIT.  211 

that  evening.  It  was  a  wretched  Christmas 
Eve  ;  and,  at  half-past  eight,  every  light  was 
out,  and  every  member  of  the  household  was 
lying,  stark-awake,  in  bed. 

Huldah  Root,  you  see,  was  a  servant  with  the 
Bartletts,  in  Boston.  When  she  was  only  six 
teen  she  was  engaged  at  her  trade,  as  a  vest- 
maker,  in  that  town ;  and,  by  some  chance, 
made  an  appointment  to  sew  as  a  seamstress 
at  Mrs.  Bartlett's  for  a  fortnight.  There  were 
any  number  of  children  to  be  clothed  there  ; 
and  the  fortnight  extended  to  a  month.  Then 
the  month  became  two  months.  She  grew  fond 
of  Mrs.  Bartlett,  because  Mrs.  Bartlett  grew 
fond  of  her.  The  children  adored  her ;  and  she 
kept  an  eye  to  them ;  and  it  ended  in  her  en 
gaging  to  spend  the  winter  there,  half-seam 
stress,  half-nurse,  half-nursery-governess,  and  a 
little  of  everything.  From  such  a  beginning  it 
had  happened  that  she  had  lived  there  six  years, 
in  confidential  service.  She  could  cook  better 
than  anybody  in  the  house,  —  better  than  Mrs. 
Bartlett  herself;  but  it  was  not  often  that  she 
tried  her  talent  there.  On  a  birthday  perhaps, 


212     HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH  CLUBS. 

in  August,  she  would  make  huckleberry  cakes, 
by  the  old  homestead  receipt,  for  the  children. 
She  had  the  run  of  all  their  clothes  as  nobody 
else  had  ;  took  the  younger  ones  to  be  meas 
ured  ;  and  saw  that  Done  of  the  older  ones  went 
out  with  a  crack  in  a  seam,  or  a  rough  edge  at 
the  foot  of  a  trowser.  It  was  whispered  that 
Minnie  had  rather  go  into  the  sewing-room  to 
get  Huldah  to  show  her  about  Alligation  or 
Square-root,  than  to  wait  for  Miss  Thurber's 
explanations  in  the  morning.  In  fifty  such 
ways  it  happened  that  Huldah,  who,  on  the 
roll-call  of  the  census-man,  probably  rated  as  a 
nursery-maid  in  the  house,  was  the  confidential 
friend  of  every  member  of  the  family,  from  Mr. 
Bartlett,  for  whom  she  knew  where  to  find 
the  Intelligencer,  down  to  the  chore-boy  who 
came  in  to  black  the  shoes.  And  so  it  was  that, 
when  poor  little  Horace  was  brought  in  with  his 
skull  knocked  in  by  the  pony,  Huldah  was, 
and  modestly  knew  that  she  was,  the  most 
essential  person  in  the  stunned  family-circle. 

While  her  brothers  and  sisters  were  putting 
out  their  lights  at  New  Durham,  heart-sick  and 
wounded,  Huldah  was  sitting  in  that  still  room. 


S'i'AND   AND   WAIT.  213 

where  only  the  rough,  choked  breathing  of  poor 
Horace  broke  the  sound.  She  was  changing, 
once  in  ten  minutes,  the  ice-water  cloths ;  was 
feeling  of  his  feet  sometimes  ;  wetting  his  tongue 
once  or  twice  in  an  hour;  putting  her  ringer 
to  his  pulse,  with  a  native  sense  which  needed 
no  second-hand  to  help  it;  and  all  the  time, 
with  the  thought  of  him,  was  remembering  how 
grieved  and  hurt  and  heart-broken  they  were  at 
home.  Every  half-hour,  or  less,  a  pale  face  ap 
peared  at  the  door;  and  Huldah  just  slid  across 
the  room  and  said  :  "  He  is  really  doing  nicely, 
pray  lie  down ; "  or  "  His  pulse  is  surely  bet 
ter  ;  I  will  certainly  come  to  you  if  it  flags ; " 
or  "  Pray  trust  me,  —  I  will  not  let  you  wait  a 
moment  if  he  needs  you  ;  "  or  "  Pray  get  ready 
for  to-morrow.  An  hour's  sleep  now  will  be 
worth  everything  to  you  then."  And  the  poor 
mother  would  crawl  back  to  her  baby  and  her 
bed,  and  pretend  to  try  to  sleep  ;  and  in  half  an 
hour  would  appear  again  at  the  door.  One 
o'clock,  two  o'clock,  three  o'clock.  How  com 
panionable  Dr.  Lowell's  clock  seems  when  one 
is  sitting  up  so,  with  no  one  else  to  talk  to  I 
Four  o'clock  at  last ;  it  is  really  growing  to  be 


214     HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH  CLUBS. 

quite  intimate.  Five  o'clock.  "  If  I  were  in 
dear  Durham  now,  one  of  the  roosters  would 
be  calling,"  —  Six  o'clock.  —  Poor  Horace  stirs, 
turns,  flings  his  arm  over.  "  Mother  —  O  Hul- 
dah !  is  it  you  ?  How  nice  that  is  !  "  And  he 
is  unconscious  again ;  but  he  had  had  sense 
enough  to  know  her.  What  a  blessed  Christmas 
present  that  is,  to  tell  that  to  his  poor  mother 
when  she  slides  in  at  daybreak,  and  says :  "  You 
shall  go  to  bed  now,  dear  child.  You  see  I  am 
very  fresh ;  and  you  must  rest  yourself,  you 
know.  Do  you  really  say  he  knew  you?  Are 
you  sure  he  knew  you?  Why,  Huldah,  what 
an  angel  of  peace  you  are  !  " 

So  opened  Huldah's  Christmas  morning. 

Days  of  doubt,  nights  of  watching.  Every 
now  and  then  the  boy  knows  his  mother,  his 
father,  or  Huldah.  Then  will  come  this  heavy 
stupor,  which  is  so  different  from  sleep.  At  last 
the  surgeons  have  determined  that  a  piece  of 
the  bone  must  come  away.  There  is  the  quiet 
gathering  of  the  most  skilful  at  the  determined 
hour  ;  there  is  the  firm  table  for  the  little  fel 
low  to  lie  on  ;  here  is  the  ether  and  the  sponge ; 


STAND    AND   WAIT.  215 

and,  of  course,  here  and  there,  and  everywhere, 
is  Huldah.  She  can  hold  the  sponge,  or  she  can 
fetch  and  carry  ;  she  can  answer  at  once  if  she 
is  spoken  to ;  she  can  wait,  if  it  is  waiting ;  she 
can  act,  if  it  is  acting.  At  last  the  wretched  lit 
tle  button,  which  has  been  pressing  on  our  poor 
boy's  brain,  is  lifted  safely  out.  It  is  in  Mor 
ton's  hand ;  he  smiles  and  nods  at  Huldah  as 
she  looks  inquiry,  and  she  knows  he  is  satisfied. 
And  does  not  the  poor  child  himself,  even  in  his 
unconscious  sleep,  draw  his  breath  more  lightly 
than  he  did  before  ?  All  is  well. 

"  Who  do  you  say  that  young  woman  is  ?  " 
says  Dr.  Morton  to  Mr.  Bartlett,  as  he  draws 
on  his  coat  in  the  doorway  after  all  is  over. 
"  Could  we  not  tempt  her  over  to  the  General 
Hospital  ?  " 

"  No,  I  think  not.  I  do  not  think  we  can 
spare  her." 

The  boy  Horace  is  new-born  that  day  ;  a  New 
Year's  gift  to  his  mother.  So  pass  Huldah's 
holidays. 


CHAPTER  II. 

CHRISTMAS  AGAIN. 

FOURTEEN  years  make  of  the  boy,  whose 
pony  was  too  much  for  him,  a  man  equal  to 
any  prank  of  any  pony.  Fourteen  years  will  do 
this,  even  to  boys  of  ten.  Horace  Bartlett  is 
the  colonel  of  a  cavalry  regiment,  stationed  just 
now  in  West  Virginia  ;  and,  as  it  happens,  this 
twenty-four-year-old  boy  has  an  older  commis«> 
sion  than  anybody  in  that  region,  and  is  the 
Post  Commander  at  Talbot  C.  H.,  and  will  be, 
most  likely,  for  the  winter.  The  boy  has  a  vein 
of  foresight  in  him,  a  good  deal  of  system  ;  and, 
what  is  worth  while  to  have  by  the  side  of  sys 
tem,  some  knack  of  order.  So  soon  as  he  finds 
that  he  is  responsible,  he  begins  to  prepare  for 
responsibility.  His  staff-officers  are  boys  too ; 
but  they  are  all  friends,  and  all  mean  to  do  their 
best.  His  surgeon-in-charge  took  his  degree 
at  Washington  last  spring  ;  that  is  encouraging. 
Perhaps,  if  he  has  not  much  experience,  he  has, 


STAND    AND    WAIT.  217 

at  least,  the  latest  advices.  His  bead  is  level 
too  ;  he  means  to  do  his  best,  such  as  it  is ;  and, 
indeed,  all  hands  in  that  knot  of  boy-counsellors 
will  not  fail  for  laziness  or  carelessness.  Their 
very  youth  makes  them  provident  and  grave. 

So  among  a  hundred  other  letters,  as  October 
opens,  Horace  writes  this :  — 

TALBOT   COURT  HOUSE,  VA.,  Oct.  3,  1863. 

DEAR  HULDAH,  —  Here  we  are  still,  as  I 
have  been  explaining  to  father ;  and,  as  you  will 
see  by  my  letter  to  him,  here  we  are  like  to 
stay.  Thus  far  we  are  doing  sufficiently  well. 
As  I  have  told  him,  if  my  plans  had  been  adopted 
we  should  have  been  pushed  rapidly  forward  up 
the  valley  of  the  Yellow  Creek;  Badger's  corps 
would  have  been  withdrawn  from  before  Win 
chester  ;  Wilcox  and  Steele  together  would  have 
threatened  Early ;  and  then,  by  a  rapid  flank 
movement,  we  should  have  pounced  down  on 
Longstreet  (not  the  great  Longstreet,  but  lit 
tle  Longstreet)  and  compelled  him  to  uncover 
Lynchburg ;  we  could  have  blown  up  the  dams 
and  locks  on  the  canal,  made  a  freshet  to  sweep 
all  the  obstructions  out  of  James  River  ;  and 


218     HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WAD5WORTH  CLUBS. 

then,  if  they  had  shown  half  as  much  spirit  on 
the  Potomac,  all  of  us  would  be  in  Eichmond 
for  our  Christmas  dinner.  But  my  plans,  as 
usual,  were  not  asked  for,  far  less  taken.  So, 
as  I  said,  here  we  are. 

Well,  I  have  been  talking  with  Lawrence 
Worcester,  my  surgeon-in-charge,  who  is  a  very 
good  fellow.  His  sick-list  is  not  bad  now,  and 
he  does  not  mean  to  have  it  bad ;  but  he  says 
that  he  is  not  pleased  with  the  ways  of  his  ward- 
masters  ;  and  it  was  his  suggestion,  not  mine, 
mark  you,  that  I  should  see  if  one  or  two  of  the 
Sanitary  women  would  not  come  as  far  as  this 
to  make  things  decent.  So,  of  course,  I  write 
to  you.  Don't  you  think  mother  could  spare 
you  to  spend  the  winter  here  ?  It  will  be  rough, 
of  course  ;  but  it  is  all  in  the  good  cause.  Per 
haps  you  know  some  nice  women,  —  well,  not 
like  you,  of  course,  but  still,  disinterested  and 
sensible,  —  who  would  come  too.  Think  of  this 
carefully,  I  beg  you,  and  talk  to  father  and 
mother.  Worcester  says  we  may  have  three 
hundred  boys  in  hospital  before  Christmas ; 
if  Jubal  Early  should  come  this  way,  I  don't 


STAND    AND    WAIT.  219 

know  how  many  more.     Talk  with  mother  and 

father. 

Always  yours, 

HORACE  BARTLETT. 

P.  S.  I  have  shown  Worcester  what  I  have 
written ;  he  encloses  a  sort  of  official  letter, 
which  may  be  of  use.  He  says,  "  Show  this 
to  Dr.  Hayward ;  get  them  to  examine  you 
and  the  others,  and  then  the  government,  on 
his  order,  will  pass  you  on."  I  enclose  this 
because,  if  you  come,  it  will  save  time. 

Of  course  Huldah  went.  Grace  Starr,  her 
married  sister,  went  with  her,  and  Mrs.  Phil- 
brick,  and  Anna  Thwart.  That  was  the  way 
the\'  happened  to  be  all  together  in  the  Meth 
odist  church,  that  had  been,  of  Talbot  Court 
House,  as  Christmas  holidays  drew  near,  of  the 
year  of  grace,  1863. 

She  and  her  friends  had  been  there  quite 
long  enough  to  be  wonted  to  the  strangeness  of 
December  in  the  open  air.  On  her  little  table, 
in  front  of  the  desk  of  the  church,  were  three  or 
four  buttercups  in  bloom,  which  she  had  gath 
ered  in  an  afternoon  walk,  with  three  or  four 


220     HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH  CLUBS. 

heads  of  hawksweed.  "  The  beginning  of  one 
year,"  Huldah  said,  "  with  the  end  of  the  other.  " 
Nay,  there  was  even  a  stray  rose  which  Dr. 
Sprigg  had  found  in  a  farmer's  garden.  Hul 
dah  came  out  from  the  vestry,  where  her  own 
bed  was,  in  the  gray  of  the  morning,  changed 
the  water  for  the  poor  little  flowers,  sat  a  mo 
ment  at  the  table  to  look  at  last  night's  memo 
randa  ;  and  then  beckoned  to  the  ward-master, 
and  asked  him  in  a  whisper,  what  was  the 
movement  she  had  heard  in  the  night,  —  "  An 
other  alarm  from  Early  ?  " 

"No,  miss,  not  an  alarm.  I  saw  the  Colo 
nel's  orderly  as  he  passed.  He  stopped  here  for 
Dr.  Fenno's  case.  There  had  come  down  an 
express  from  General  Mitchell,  and  the  men  were 
called  without  the  bugle,  each  man  separately ; 
not  a  horse  was  to  neigh,  if  they  could  help 
it.  And  really,  miss,  they  were  off  in  twenty 
minutes." 

"Off,  who  are  off?" 

"  The  whole  post,  miss,  except  the  relief  for 
to-day.  There  are  not  fifty  men  in  the  village, 
besides  us  here.  The  orderly  thought  they 
were  to  go  down  to  Braxton's ;  but  he  did  not 
know." 


STAND   AND   WAIT.  221 

Here  was  news  indeed  !  news  so  exciting  that 
Huldah  went  back  at  once,  and  called  the  other 
women  ;  and  they  all  of  them  together  began  on 
that  wretched  business  of  waiting.  They  had 
never  yet  known  what  it  was  to  wait  for  a  real 
battle.  They  had  had  their  beds  filled  with 
this  and  that  patient  from  one  or  another  post, 
and  had  some  gun-shot  wounds  of  old  standing 
among  the  rest ;  but  this  was  their  first  battle, 
if  it  were  a  battle.  So  the  covers  were  taken  off 
that  long  line  of  beds  down  on  the  west  aisle, 
and  from  those  under  the  singers'  seat ;  and  the 
sheets  and  pillow-cases  were  brought  out  from 
the  linen-room,  and  aired,  and  put  on.  The 
biggest  kettles  are  filled  up  with  strong  soup  ; 
and  they  have  milk-punch  and  beef-tea  all  in 
readiness ;  and  everybody  they  can  command 
is  on  hand  to  help  lift  patients  and  distribute 
food.  But  there  is  only  too  much  time.  Will 
there  never  be  any  news?  Anna  Thwart  and 
Doctor  Sprigg  have  walked  down  to  the  bend 
of  the  hill,  to  see  if  any  messenger  is  coming. 
As  for  the  other  women,  they  sit  at  their  table  ; 
they  look  at  their  watches ;  they  walk  down 
to  the  door  ;  thev  come  back  to  the  table. 


222     HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH  CLUBS. 

I  notice  they  have  all  put  on  fresh  aprons,  for 
the  sake  of  doing  something  more  in  getting 
ready. 

Here  is  Anna  Thwart.  "  They  are  coming ! 
they  are  coming !  somebody  is  coming.  A 
mounted  man  is  crossing  the  flat,  coming  to 
wards  us  ;  and  the  doctor  told  me  to  come  back 
and  tell."  Five  minutes  more,  ten  minutes 
more,  an  eternity  more,  and  then  a  rat-tat-tat, 
rat-tat-tat,  the  mounted  man  is  here.  "  Wag 
ons  right  behind.  We  bagged  every  man  of 
them  at  Wyatt's.  Got  there  before  daylight. 
Colonel  White's  men  from  the  Yellows  came  up 
just  at  the  same  time,  and  we  pitched  in  before 
they  knew  it, — three  or  four  regiments,  thirteen 
hundred  men,  and  all  their  guns." 

"  And  with  no  fighting  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes !  fighting  of  course.  The  colonel 
has  got  a  train  of  wagons  down  here,  with  the 
men  that  are  hurt.  That 's  why  I  am  here. 
Here  is  his  note."  Thus  does  the  mounted 
man  discharge  his  errand  backward. 

DEAR  DOCTOR, — We  have  had  great  success. 
We  have  surprised  the  whole  post.  The  com- 


STAND    AND   WAIT.  223 

pany  across  the  brook  tried  hard  to  get  away, 
and  a  good  many  of  them,  and  of  Sykes's  men, 
are  hit ;  but  I  cannot  find  that  we  have  lost 
more  than  seven  men.  I  have  nineteen  wagons 
here  of  wounded  men,  some  hurt  pretty  badly. 

Ever  yours,  H. 

So  there  must  be  more  waiting.  But  now 
we  know  what  we  are  waiting  for ;  and  the  end 
will  come  in  a  finite  world.  Thank  God,  at 
half-past  three,  here  they  are  !  Tenderly,  gently. 
"  Hush,  Sam  !  Hush  Caesar !  You  talk  too 
much."  Gently,  tenderly.  Twenty-seven  of 
the  poor  fellows,  with  everything  the  matter, 
from  a  burnt  face  to  a  heart  stopping  its  beats 
for  want  of  more  blood. 

"  Huldah,  come  here.  This  is  my  old  class 
mate,  Barthew ;  sat  next  me  at  prayers  four 
years.  He  is  a  major  in  their  army,  you  see.  His 
horse  stumbled,  and  pitched  him  against  a  stone 
wall  ;  and  he  has  not  spoken  since.  Don't  tell 
me  he  is  dying ;  but  do  as  well  for  him,  Hul 
dah," —  and  the  handsome  boy  smiled,  —  "do 
as  well  for  him  as  you  did  for  me."  So  they 
carried  Barthew,  senseless  as  he  was,  tenderly 


224     HARRY  WADS  WORTH  AND  WADSWORTH  CLUBS. 

into  the  church  ;  and  he  became  E,  27,  on  an 
iron  bedstead.  Not  half  the  soup  was  wanted, 
nor  the  beef-tea,  nor  the  punch.  So  much  the 
better. 

Then  came  day  and  night,  week  in  and  out, 
of  army  system  and  womanly  sensibility ;  that 
quiet,  cheerful,  homish,  hospital  life,  in  the  quaint 
surroundings  of  the  white-washed  church  ;  the 
pointed  arches  of  the  windows  and  the  faded 
moreen  of  the  pulpit  telling  that  it  is  a  church, 
in  a  reminder  not  unpleasant.  Two  or  three 
weeks  of  hopes  and  fears,  failures  and  success, 
bring  us  to  Christmas  Eve. 

It  is  the  surgeon-in-chief  who  happens  to 
give  our  particular  Christmas  dinner,  —  I  mean 
the  one  that  interests  you  and  me.  Huldah 
and  the  other  ladies  had  accepted  his  invitation. 
Horace  Bartlett  and  his  staff,  and  some  of  the 
other  officers,  were  guests ;  and  the  doctor  had 
given  his  own  permit  that  Major  Barthew 
might  walk  up  to  his  quarters  with  the  ladies. 
Huldah  and  he  were  in  advance,  he  leaning, 
with  many  apologies,  on  her  arm.  Dr.  Sprigg 
and  Anna  Thwart  were  far  behind.  The  two 


STAND   AND   WAIT.  225 

married  ladies,  as  needing  no  escort,  were  in  the 
middle.  Major  Barthew  enjoyed  the  emancipa 
tion,  was  delighted  with  his  companion,  could 
not  say  enough  to  make  her  praise  the  glimpses 
of  Virginia,  even  if  it  were  West  Virginia. 

"  What  a  party  it  is,  to  be  sure ! "  said  he. 
"  The  doctor  might  call  on  us  for  our  stories,  as 
one  of  Dickens's  chiefs  would  do  at  a  Christmas 
feast.  Let  us  see,  we  should  have 

THE  SURGEON'S  TALE  ; 
THE  GENERAL'S  TALE; 

for  we  may  at  least  make  believe  that  Hod's 
stars  have  come  from  Washington.  Then  he 
must  call  in  that  one-eyed  servant  of  his,  and 
we  will  have 

THE  ORDERLY'S  TALE. 
Your  handsome  friend  from  Wisconsin  shall  tell 

THE  GERMAN'S  TALE. 
I  shall  be  encouraged  to  tell 

THE  PRISONER'S  TALK. 
And  you  "  — 

15 


226     HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH  CLUBS. 

"  And  1  ?  "  said  Huldah  laughing,  because  he 
paused. 

"  You  shall  tell 

THE  SAINT'S  TALE." 

Barthew  spoke  with  real  feeling,  which  he 
did  not  care  to  disguise.  But  Huldah  was  not 
there  for  sentiment ;  and  without  quivering  in 
the  least,  or  making  other  acknowledgment,  she 
laughed  as  she  knew  she  ought  to  do,  and  said  : 
"  Oh,  no  !  that  is  quite  too  grand,  the  story  must 
end  with 

THE  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  SPECIAL 

RELIEF'S  TALE. 

It   is   a   little   unromantic  to  the  sound ;    but 
that 's  what  it  is." 

"  I  don't  see,"  persisted  the  major  "  if  Super 
intendent  of  Special  Relief  means  Saint  in  Latin, 
why  we  should  not  say  so." 

"  Because  we  are  not  talking  Latin,"  said 
Huldah.  "Listen  to  me;  and,  before  we  come 
to  dinner,  I  will  tell  you  a  story  pretty  enough 
for  Dickens,  or  any  of  them  ;  and  it  is  a  story 
not  fifteen  minutes  old. 

"  Have  you  noticed  that  black-whiskered  fel- 


STAND    AND    WAIT.  227 

low,  under  the  gallery,  by  the  north  window?  — 
Yes,  the  same.  He  is  French,  enlisted,  I  think, 
in  New  London.  I  came  to  him  just  now,  man 
aged  to  say  etrennes  and  Noel  to  him,  and  a  few 
other  French  words,  and  asked  if  there  were 
nothing  we  could  do  to  make  him  more  at 
home.  Oh,  no !  there  was  nothing ;  madame 
was  too  good,  arid  everybody  was  too  good,  and 
so  on.  But  I  persisted.  I  wished  I  knew  more 
about  Christmas  in  France ;  and  I  staid  by. 
'  No,  madame,  nothing ;  there  is  nothing  :  but, 
since  you  say  it,  —  if  there  were  two  drops  of 
red  wine,  —  du  vin  de  mon  pays,  madame;  but 
you  could  not,  here  in  Virginia.'  Could  not  I  ? 
Long  arms  has  a  superintendent  of  special  re 
lief.  There  was  a  box  of  claret,  which  was  the 
first  thing  I  saw  in  the  store-room  the  day  I 
took  my  keys.  The  doctor  was  only  too  glad 
the  man  had  thought  of  it ;  and  you  should 
have  seen  the  pleasure  that  red  glass  —  as  full 
as  I  could  pile  it  —  gave  him.  The  tears  were 
running  down  his  cheeks.  Anna,  there,  had 
another  Frenchman;  and  she  sent  some  to  him: 
and  my  man  is  now  humming  a  little  song  about 
the  vin  rouge  of  Bourgogne.  Would  not  Mr. 


228     HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH  CLUBS. 

Dickens    make    a    pretty    story    of     that    for 

you,— 

THE  FRENCHMAN'S  STORY?' 

Barthew  longed  to  say  that  the  great  novelist 
would  not  make  so  pretty  a  story  as  she  did. 
But  this  time  he  did  not  dare. 

You  are  not  going  to  hear  the  eight  stories. 
Mr.  Dickens  was  not  there,  nor,  indeed,  was  I. 
But  a  jolly  Christinas  dinner  they  had,  though 
they  had  not  those  eight  stories.  Quiet  they 
were,  and  very,  very  happy.  It  was  a  strange 
thing,  if  one  could  have  analyzed  it,  that  they 
should  have  felt  so  much  at  home,  and  so  much 
at  ease  with  each  other,  in  that  queer  Virginian 
kitchen,  where  the  doctor  and  his  friends  of  his 
mess  had  arranged  the  feast ;  and  a  happy  thing 
it  was,  that  the  recollections  of  so  many  other 
Christmas  homes  should  come  in,  not  sadly, 
but  pleasantly,  and  should  cheer,  rather  than 
shade,  the  evening.  They  felt  off-soundings,  all 
of  them.  There  was,  for  the  time,  no  responsi 
bility.  The  strain  was  gone.  The  gentlemen 
were  glad  to  be  dining  with  ladies,  I  be 
lieve  ;  the  ladies,  unconsciously,  were  probably 
glad  to  be  dining  with  gentlemen.  The  officers 


STAND    AND   WAIT.  229 

were  glad  they  were  not  on  duty;  and  the 
prisoner,  if  glad  of  nothing  else,  was  glad  he 
was  not  in  bed.  But  he  was  glad  for  many 
things  beside.  You  see  it  was  but  a  little  post. 
They  were  far  away;  and  they  took  things  with 
the  ease  of  a  detached  command. 

"  Shall  we  have  any  toasts  ?  "  said  the  doctor, 
when  his  nuts  and  raisins  and  apples  at  last 
appeared. 

"  Oli,  no !  no  toasts, —  nothing  so  stiff  as  that." 

"  Oh,  yes  !  oh,  yes  ! ' '  said  Grace  ;  "  I  should 
like  to  know  what  it  is  to  drink  a  toast.  Some 
thing  I  have  heard  of  all  my  life,  and  never  saw." 

"  One  toast,  at  least,  then,"  said  the  doctor. 
"Colonel  Bartlett,  will  you  name  the  toast?" 

"  Only  one  toast?  "  said  Horace  ;  "  that  is  a 
hard  selection:  we  must  vote  on  that." 

"  No,  no !  "  said  a  dozen  voices  ;  and  a  dozen 
laughing  assistants  at  the  feast  offered  their 
advice. 

"  I  might  give  the  Country  ;  I  might  give 
the  Cause  ;  I  might  give  the  President :  and 
everybody  would  drink,"  said  Horace.  "  I  might 
give  Absent  Friends,  or  Home,  Sweet  Home; 
but  then  we  should  cry." 


230     HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH  CLUBS. 

"  Why  do  you  not  give  the  Trepanned  Peo 
ple  ?  "  said  Worcester,  laughing,  "  or  the  Silver- 
headed  Gentlemen  ?  " 

"  Why  don't  you  give  the  Staff  and  the 
Line  ?  Why  don't  you  give  Here 's  Hoping  ? 
Give  Next  Christmas ;  give  the  Medical  Depart 
ment  ;  and  may  they  often  ask  us  to  dine  !  " 

"  Give  Saints  and  Sinners,"  said  Major 
Barthew,  after  the  first  outcry  was  hushed. 

"  I  shall  give  no  such  thing,"  said  Horace. 
"  We  have  had  a  lovely  dinner ;  and  we  know 
we  have ;  and  the  host,  who  is  a  good  fellow, 
knows  the  first  thanks  are  not  to  him.  Those 
of  us  who  ever  had  our  heads  knocked  open, 
like  the  Major  and  me,  do  know.  Fill  your 
glasses,  gentlemen,  I  give  you  the  Special  Diet 
Kitchen." 

He  took  them  all  by  surprise.  There  was 
a  general  shout ;  and  the  ladies  all  rose  and 
dropped  mock  courtesies. 

"  By  Jove,"  said  Barthew  to  the  Colonel, 
afterwards,  "  It  was  the  best  toast  I  ever  drank 
in  my  life.  Anyway,  that  little  woman  has 
saved  my  life.  Do  you  say  she  did  the  same 
to  you?" 


CHAPTER   III. 

CHRISTMAS    AGAIN. 

you  think  that,  when  the  war  was  over, 
Major  Barthew,  then  Major-General,  re 
membered  Huldah  all  the  same,  and  came  on 
and  persuaded  her  to  marry  him,  and  that  she 
is  now  sitting  in  her  veranda,  looking  down 
on  the  Pamunkey  River.  You  think  that,  do 
you  not? 

Well,  you  were  never  so  mistaken  in  your 
life !  If  you  want  that  story,  you  can  go  and 
buy  yourself  a  dime-novel.  I  would  buy  The 
Rescued  Rebel,  or  The  Noble  Nurse,  if  I  were 
you. 

After  the  war  was  over,  Huldah  did  make 
General  Barthew  and  his  wife  a  visit  once,  at 
their  plantation  in  Pocataligo  County ;  but  I 
was  not  there,  and  know  nothing  about  it. 

Here  is  a  Christmas  of  hers,  about  which  she 
wrote  a  letter ;  and,  as  it  happens,  it  was  a 
letter  to  Mrs.  Barthew. 


232      HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH  CLUBS. 

HULDAII  ROOT  TO   AGNES  BARTIIEW. 

VILLIERS-BOCAGE,  Dec.  27,  1868. 

.  .  .  Here  I  was,  then,  after  this  series  of 
hopeless  blunders,  sole  alone  at  the  gare  [French 
for  station]  of  this  little,  out-of-the-way  town. 
My  dear,  thew,  was  never  an  American  here  since 
Christopher  Columbus  slept  here  when  he  was 
a  boy.  And  here,  you  see,  I  was  like  to  re 
main  ;  for  there  was  no  possibility  of  the  others 
getting  back  to  me  till  to-morrow,  and  no  good 
in  my  trying  to  overtake  them.  All  I  could 
do  was  just  to  bear  it,  and  to  live  on  and  live 
through,  from  Thursday  to  Monday;  and  really, 
what  was  worst  of  all  was,  that  Friday  was 
Christmas  Day. 

Well,  I  found  a  funny  little  carriage,  with  a 
funny  old  man  who  did  not  understand  my 
patois  any  better  than  I  did  his ;  but  he  under 
stood  a  franc-piece.  I  had  my  guide-book,  and 
I  said  auberge;  and  we  came  to  the  oddest,  most 
outlandish  and  old-fashioned  establishment  that 
ever  escaped  from  one  of  Julia  Nathalie  wom 
an's  novels.  And  here  I  am. 

And  the  reason,  my  dear  Mrs.  Barthew,  that 
I  take  to-day  to  write  to  you,  you  and  the 


STAND    AND   WAIT.  233 

Colonel  will  now  understand.  You  see  it  was 
only  ten  o'clock  when  I  got  here ;  then  I  went 
to  walk,  many  enfants  terribles  following  respect 
fully  ;  then  I  came  home,  and  ate  the  funny 
refection ;  then  I  got  a  nap ;  then  I  went  to 
walk  again,  and  made  a  little  sketch  in  the 
churchyard :  and  this  time,  one  of  the  chil 
dren  brought  up  her  mother,  a  funny  Norman 
woman,  in  a  delicious  costume,  —  I  have  a 
sketch  of  another  just  like  her,  —  and  she  drop 
ped  a  courtesy,  and,  in  a  very  mild  patois,  said 
she  hoped  the  children  did  not  trouble  madame. 
And  I  said,  "Oh,  no ! "  and  found  a  sugar-plum 
for  the  child,  and  showed  my  sketch  to  the 
woman ;  and  she  said  she  supposed  madame 
was  Anglaise. 

I  said  I  was  not  Anglaise  —  and  here  the 
story  begins  ;  for  I  said  I  was  Americaine.  And, 
do  you  know,  her  face  lighted  up  as  if  I  had 
said  I  was  St.  Gulda,  or  St.  Hilda,  or  any  of 
their  Northmen  Saints. 

"  Americaine  !  est-il  possible  ?  Jeannette, 
G-ertrude,  faites  vos  reverences;  madame  est 
Americaine" 

And,  sure  enough,  they  all  dropped  preter- 


234     HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  \VADSWORTH  CLUBS. 

natural  courtesies.  And  then  the  most  eager 
enthusiasm;  how  fond  they  all  were  of  les 
Americaines,  but  how  no  Americaines  had  ever 
come  before !  And  was  madame  at  the  Three 
Cygnets?  And  might  she  and  her  son  and  her 
husband  call  to  see  madame  at  the  Three  Cyg 
nets?  And  might  she  bring  a  little  etrenne 
to  madame  ?  And  I  know  not  what  beside. 

I  was  very  glad  the  national  reputation  had 
gone  so  far.  I  really  wished  I  were  Charles 
Sunnier  (pardon  me,  dear  Mrs.  Barthew!),  that 
I  might  properly  receive  the  delegation.  But  I 
said,  "  Oh,  certainly ! "  and,  as  it  grew  dark, 
—  with  my  admiring  cortege,  whispering  now 
to  the  street  full  of  admirers  that  madame 
was  Americaine,  —  I  returned  to  the  Three 
Cygnets. 

And  in  the  evening  they  all  came.  Really, 
you  should  see  the  pretty  basket  they  brought 
for  an  tirenne.  I  could  not  guess  then  where 
they  got  such  exquisite  flowers  ;  these  lovely 
stephanotis  blossoms,  a  perfect  wealth  of  roses, 
and  all  arranged  with  charming  taste  in  a 
quaint  country  basket,  such  as  exists  nowhere 
but  in  this  particular  section  of  this  quaint  old 


STAND   AND    WAIT.  235 

Normandy.  In  came  the  husband,  dressed  up 
and  frightened,  but  thoroughly  good  in  his 
look.  In  came  my  friend  ;  and  then  two  sons 
and  two  wives,  and  three  or  four  children :  and, 
my  dear  Mrs.  Barthew,  one  of  the  sons,  I  knew 
him  in  an  instant,  was  a  man  we  had  at  Talbot 
Court  House  when  your  husband  was  there. 
I  think  the  Colonel  will  remember  him,  —  a 
black-whiskered  man,  who  used  to  sing  a  little 
song  about  le  vin  rouge  of  Bourgogne. 

He  did  not  remember  me ;  that  I  saw  in  a 
moment.  It  was  all  so  different,  you  know. 
In  the  hospital  I  had  on  a  cap  and  apron,  and 
here,  —  well  it  was  another  thing.  My  hostess 
knew  that  they  were  coming,  and  had  me  in 
her  largest  room,  and  I  succeeded  in  making 
them  all  sit  down ;  and  I  received  my  formal 
welcome  ;  and  I  thanked  in  my  most  Parisian 
French ;  and  then  the  conversation  hung  fire. 
But  I  took  my  turn  now,  and  turned  round  to 
poor  Louis. 

"You  served  in  America, — did  you  not?" 
said  I. 

"  Ah,  yes,  madame !  I  did  not  know  my 
mother  had  told  you." 


236      HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH  CLUBS. 

No  more  did  she,  indeed ;  and  she  looked 
astonished.  But  I  persevered  :  — 

"  You  seem  strong  and  well." 

"  Ah,  yes,  madame  !  " 

"  How  long  since  you  returned  ?  " 

"  As  soon  as  there  was  peace,  madame.  We 
were  mustered  out  in  June,  madame." 

"  And  does  your  arm  never  trouble  you?  " 

"  Oh,  never,  madame  !  I  did  not  know  my 
mother  had  told  you." 

New  astonishment  on  the  part  of  the  mother. 

"  You  never  had  another  piece  of  bone  come 
out  ?  " 

"  Oh,  no,  madame  !  how  did  madame  know  ? 
I  did  not  know  my  mother  had  told  you !  " 

And  by  this  time  I  could  not  help  saying: 
"  You  Normans  care  more  for  Christmas  than 
we  Americans  ;  is  it  not  so,  my  brave  ?  " 

And  this  he  would  not  stand  ;  and  he  said 
stoutly,  "  Ah,  no,  madame  !  no,  no,  — jamais  !  " 
and  began  an  eager  defence  of  the  religious 
enthusiasm  of  the  Americans,  and  their  good 
ness  to  all  people  who  were  good,  if  people 
would  only  be  good.  But  still  he  had  not  the 
least  dream  who  I  was.  And  I  said :  — 


STAND   AND   WAIT.  237 

"  Do  the  Normans  ever  drink  Burgundy  ?  " 
and  to  my  old  hostess :  "  Madame,  could  you 
bring  us  a  flask  du  vin  rouge  de  Bourgogne  ?  " 
and  then  I  hummed  his  little  chanson,  —  I  am 
sure  Colonel  Barthew  will  remember  it,  — 
"  Deux  —  gouttes  —  du  vin  rouge  de  Bourgogne" 

My  dear  Mrs.  Barthew,  he  sprang  from  his 
chair  and  fell  on  his  knees,  and  kissed  my 
hands,  before  I  could  stop  him.  And  when  his 
mother  and  father,  and  all  the  rest,  found  that 
I  was  the  particular  sceur  de  la  charite  who  had 
had  the  care  of  dear  Louis  when  he  was  hurt, 
and  that  it  was  I  he  had  told  of  that  very  day, 
—  for  the  thousandth  time,  I  believe,  —  who 
gave  him  that  glass  of  claret,  and  cheered  up 
his  Christmas,  I  verily  believe  they  would  have 
taken  me  to  the  church  to  worship  me.  They 
were  not  satisfied,  the  women  with  kissing 
me,  or  the  men  with  shaking  hands  with  each 
other ;  the  whole  auberge  had  to  be  called  in, 
and  poor  /  was  famous.  I  need  not  say  I  cried 
my  eyes  out ;  and  when,  at  ten  o'clock,  they 
let  me  go  to  bed,  I  was  worn  out  with  crying, 
and  laughing,  and  talking,  and  listening ;  and 
I  believe  they  were  as  much  upset  as  I. 


238     HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTII  CLUBS. 

Now  that  is  just  the  beginning  ;  and  yet  I  see 
I  must  stop.  But,  for  forty-eight  hours  I  have 
been  simply  a  queen.  I  can  hardly  put  my  foot 
to  the  ground.  Christmas  morning,  these  dear 
Thibault  people  came  again  ;  and  then  the  cure 
came  ;  and  then  some  nice  Madame  Perrons 
came,  and  I  went  to  mass  with  them ;  and, 
after  mass,  their  brother's  carriage  came,  and 
they  would  take  no  refusals;  but  with  many 
apologies  to  my  sweet  old  hostess,  at  the  Three 
Cygnets,  I  was  fain  to  come  up  to  M.  Firmin's 
lovely  chateau  here,  and  make  myself  at  home 
till  my  friends  shall  arrive.  It  seems  the  poor 
Thibaults  had  come  here  to  beg  the  flowers  for 
the  etrenne.  It  is  really  the  most  beautiful 
country  residence  I  have  seen  in  France  ;  and 
they  live  on  the  most  patriarchal  footing  with 
all  the  people  round  them.  I  am  sure  I  ought 
to  speak  kindly  of  them.  It  is  the  most  fasci 
nating  hospitality.  So  here  am  I,  waiting,  with 
my  little  sac  de  nuit  to  make  me  aspettabile ; 
and  here  I  ate  my  Christmas  dinner.  Tell 
the  Colonel  that  here  is  "  THE  TRAVELLER'S 
TALE  ;  "  and  that  is  why  the  letter  is  so  long. 
Most  truly  }rours, 

HULDAH   ROOT. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

ONE    CHRISTMAS    MORE. 

r  I  ""HIS  last  Christmas  party  is  Huldah's  own. 
-*•  It  is  hers,  at  least,  as  much  as  it  is  any 
one's.  There  are  five  of  them,  nay  six,  with 
equal  right  to  precedence  in  the  John  o'  Groat's 
house,  where  she  has  settled  down.  It  is  one 
of  those  comfortable  houses  which  are  still  left 
three  miles  out  from  the  old  State  House  in 
Boston.  It  is  not  all  on  one  floor ;  that  would 
be,  perhaps,  too  like  the  golden  courts  of 
heaven.  There  are  two  stories ;  but  they  are 
connected  by  a  central  flight  of  stairs  of  easy 
tread  (designed  by  Charles  Cummings)  ;  so 
easy,  and  so  stately  withal,  that,  as  you  pass 
over  them,  you  always  bless  the  builder,  and 
hardly  know  that  you  go  up  or  down.  Five 
large  rooms  on  each  floor  give  ample  room  for 
the  five  heads  of  the  house,  if,  indeed,  there  be 
not  six,  as  I  said  before. 

In  this   Saints'   Rest  there  have    drifted  to 
gether,  by   the    eternal  law  of  attraction,  Hul- 


240     HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH  CLUBS. 

dah,  and  Ellen  Philbrick  (who  was  with  her  in 
Virginia  and  in  France,  and  has  been,  indeed, 
but  little  separated  from  her,  except  on  duty, 
for  twenty  years),  and  with  them  three  other 
friends.  These  women,  —  well  I  cannot  intro 
duce  them  to  you  without  writing  three  stories 
of  true  romance,  one  for  each.  This  quiet, 
strong,  meditative,  helpful  saint,  who  is  coming 
into  the  parlor  now,  is  Helen  Touro.  She 
was  left  alone  with  her  baby  when  the  Empire 
State  went  down,  and  her  husband  was  never 
heard  of  more.  The  love  of  that  baby  warmed 
her  to  the  love  of  all  others  ;  and,  when  I  first 
knew  her,  she  was  ruling  over  a  home  of  babies, 
whose  own  mothers  or  fathers  were  not,  always 
with  a  heart  big  enough  to  say  there  was  room 
for  one  more  waif  in  that  sanctuary.  That 
older  woman,  who  is  writing  at  the  Davenport 
in  the  corner,  lightened  the  cares  and  smoothed 
the  daily  life  of  General  Schuyler  in  all  the  last 
years  of  his  life,  when  he  was  in  the  Cabinet, 
in  Brazil,  and  in  Louisiana.  His  wife  was  long 
ill,  and  then  died.  His  children  needed  all  a 
woman's  care  ;  and  this  woman  stepped  to  the 
front,  cared  for  them,  cared  for  all  his  house- 


STAND   AND   WAIT.  241 

hold,  cared  for  him  ;  and  I  dare  not  say  how 
much  is  due  to  her  of  that  which  you  and  I  say 
daily  we  owe  to  him.  Miss  Peters,  I  see  you 
know.  She  served  in  another  regiment;  was 
at  the  head  of  the  sweetest,  noblest,  purest 
school  that  ever  trained,  in  five-and-twenty 
years,  five  hundred  girls  to  be  the  queens  in 
five  hundred  happy  and  strong  families.  All 
of  these  five,  —  our  Huldah,  and  Mrs.  Philbrick 
too,  you  have  seen  before,  —  all  of  them  have 
been  in  "  the  service  ;  "  all  of  them  have  known 
that  perfect  service  is  perfect  freedom.  I  think 
they  know  that  perfect  service  is  the  highest 
honor.  They  have  together  taken  this  house, 
as  they  say,  for  the  shelter  and  home  of  their 
old  age.  But  Huldah,  as  she  plays  with  your 
Harry  there,  does  not  look  to  me  as  if  she  were 

superannuated  yet. 

"  But  you  said  there  were  six  in  all." 
"  Did  I  ?     I  suppose   there  are.     Mr.     Phil- 
brick,  are  there  five  captains  in  your  establish 
ment,  or  six?  " 

"  My  dear  Mr.  Hale,  why  do  you  ask  me  ? 
You  know  there  are  five  captains  and  one 
general.  We  have  persuaded  Seth  Corbet  to 

16 


242  HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH  CLUBS. 

make  his  home  here,  — yes,  the  same  who  went 
round  the  world  with  Mrs.  Cradock.     Since  her 
death,  he  has  come  home  to  Boston  ;    and  he 
reports  to  us,  and  makes  his  headquarters  here. 
He  sees  that  we  are  all  right  every  morning  ; 
and  then  he  goes  his  rounds  to  see  every  grand 
child  of  old   Mr.  Cradock,  and   to  make   sure 
that  every  son  and  daughter  of  that  house  is 
'  all  right.'     Sometimes  he  is  away  over  night. 
This  is  when  somebody  in  the  circle  of  their 
friends    is   more  sick  than  usuaj,  and  needs  a 
man  nurse.      That  old  man  was  employed  by 
old  Mr.  Cradock,  in  1816,  when  he  first  went 
to  housekeeping.     He  has  had  all  the  sons  and 
all    the    daughters  of  that  house  in  his  arms  ; 
and  now  that  the  youngest  of  them  is  five-and- 
Iwenty,  and  the  oldest  fifty,  I  suppose  he  is  not 
satisfied  any  day  until  he  has  seen  that  they 
and  theirs,  in  their  respective  homes,  are  well. 
He  thinks  we  here  are   babies  ;   but  he  takes 
care  of  us  all  the  more  courteously." 
"  Will  he  dine  with  you  to-day  ?  " 
"I  am  afraid  not ;  but  we  shall  see  him  at 
the  Christmas-tree  after  dinner.     There  is  to  be 
a  tree." 


STAND    AND   WAIT.  243 

You  see,  this  house  was  dedicated  to  the 
Apotheosis  of  Noble  Ministry.  Over  the  man 
tel-piece  hung  Raphael  Morghen's  large  print 
of  "  The  Lavatio,"  Caracci's  picture  of  the 
"  Washing  of  the  Feet,"  —  the  only  copy  I  ever 
saw.  We  asked  Huldah  about  it. 

"  Oh,  that  was  a  present  from  Mr.  Burch- 
stadt,  a  rich  manufacturer  in  Wirtemberg,  to 
Ellen  !  She  stumbled  into  one  of  those  villages 
when  everybody  was  sick  and  dying  of  typhus, 
and  tended  and  watched  and  saved,  one  whole 
summer  long,  as  Mrs.  Ware  did  at  Osmotherly. 
And  this  Mr.  Burchstadt  wanted  to  do  some 
thing;  and  he  sent  her  this  in  acknowl 
edgment. 

On  the  other  side  was  Kaulbach's  own  study 
of  Elizabeth  of  Hungary,  dropping  her  apron 
full  of  roses. 

"  Oh  !  what  a  sight  the  apron  discloses  ; 
The  viands  are  changed  to  real  roses  !  " 

When  I  asked  Huldah  where  that  came  from, 
she  blushed,  and  said,  "  Oh,  that  was  a  present 
to  me ! "  and  led  us  to  Steinler's  exquisite 
"  Good  Shepherd,"  in  a  larger  and  finer  print 
than  I  had  ever  seen.  Six  or  eight  gentlemen 


244      HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH  CLUBS. 

in  New  York,  who,  when  they  were  dirty  babies 
from  the  gutter,  had  been  in  Helen  Touro's 
hands,  had  sent  her  a  portfolio  of  beautiful 
prints,  each  with  this  same  idea,  of  seeking 
what  was  lost.  This  one  she  had  chosen  for 
the  sitting-room. 

And  on  the  fourth  side  was  that  dashing 
group  of  Horace  Vernet's,  "  Gideon  crossing 
Jordan,"  with  the  motto  wrought  into  the 
frame,  "  Faint,  yet  pursuing."  These  four  pic 
tures  are  all  presents  to  the  "girls,"  as  I  find 
I  still  call  them  ;  and  on  the  easel,  Miss  Peters 
had  put  her  copy  of  "  The  Tribute  Money." 
There  were  other  pictures  in  the  room  ;  but 
these  five  unconsciously  told  its  story. 

The  five  girls  were  always  together  at  Christ 
mas  ;  but,  in  practice,  each  of  them  lived  here 
only  two  fifths  of  her  time.  "  We  make  that 
a  rule,"  said  Ellen,  laughing.  "  If  anybody 
comes  for  anybody  when  there  are  only  two 
here,  those  two  are  engaged  to  each  other ; 
and  we  stay.  Not  but  what  they  can  come 
and  stay  here  if  we  cannot  go  to  them."  In 
practice,  if  any  of  us,  in  the  immense  circles 
which  these  saints  had  befriended,  were  in  a 


STAND    AND   WAIT.  245 

scrape,  —  as,  if  a  mother  was  called  away  from 
home,  and  there  were  some  children  left,  or  if 
scarlet  fever  got  into  a  house,  or  if  the  chil 
dren  had  nobody  to  go  to  Mount  Desert  with 
them,  or  if  the  new  house  were  to  be  set  in 
order,  and  nobody  knew  how,  —  in  any  of  the 
trials  of  well-ordered  families,  why,  we  rode 
over  to  the  Saints'  Rest  to  see  if  we  could 
not  induce  one  of  the  five  to  come  and  put 
things  through.  So  that  in  practice,  there  were 
seldom  more  than  two  on  the  spot  there. 

But  we  do  not  get  to  the  Christmas  dinner. 
There  were  covers  for  four-and-twenty  ;  and  all 
the  children  besides  were  in  a  room  up-stairs, 
presided  over  by  Maria  Munroe,  who  was  in 
her  element  there.  Then  our  party  of  twenty- 
four  included  men  and  women  of  a  thousand 
romances,  who  had  learned  and  had  shown  the 
nobility  of  service.  One  or  two  of  us  were 
invited  as  novices,  in  the  hope,  perhaps,  that 
we  might  learn. 

Scarcely  was  the  soup  served  when  the  door 
bell  rang.  Nothing  else  ever  made  Huldah 
look  nervous.  Bartlett,  who  was  there,  said,  in 
an  aside  to  me,  that  he  had  seen  her  more  calm 


246     HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH  CLUBS. 

when  there  was  a  volley  firing  within  hearing 
of  her  store-room.  Then  it  rang  again.  Helen 
Touro  talked  more  vehemently ;  and  Mrs.  Bart- 
lett  at  her  end  started  a  great  laugh.  But 
when  it  rang  the  third  time  something  had  to 
be  said  ;  and  Huldah  asked  one  of  the  girls, 
who  was  waiting,  if  there  were  no  one  attend 
ing  at  the  door. 

"  Yes  'm,  Mr.  Corbet." 

But  the  bell  rang  a  fourth  time,  and  a  fifth. 

"  Isabel,  you  can  go  to  the  door.  Mr.  Corbet 
must  have  stepped  out." 

So  Isabel  went  out,  but  returned  with  a  face 
as  broad  as  a  soup-plate.  "  Mr.  Corbet  is 
there,  ma'am." 

Sixth  door-bell  peal,  —  seventh,  and  eighth. 

"  Mary,  I  think  you  had  better  see  if  Mr. 
Corbet  has  gone  away.  " 

Mary  returns,  face  one  broad  grin. 

"  No,  ma'am,  Mr.  Corbet  is  there.  " 

Heavy  steps  in  the  red  parlor.  Side  door 
bell,  a  little  gong,  begins  to  ring.  Front  bell 
rings  ninth  time,  tenth,  and  eleventh. 

Saint  John,  as  we  call  him,  had  seen  that 
something  was  amiss,  and  had  kindly  pitched 


STAND   AND   WAIT.  247 

in  with  a  dissertation  on  the  passage  of  the  Red- 
River  Dam,  in  which  the  gravy-boats  were 
steamships,  and  the  cranberry  was  General 
Banks,  and  the  spoons  were  aids.  But,  when 
both  door-bells  rang  together,  and  there  were 
more  steps  in  the  hall,  Huldah  said,  "  If  you 
will  excuse  me,"  and  rose  from  the  table. 

"  No,  no,  we  will  not  excuse  you,"  cried 
Clara  Hastings.  "  Nobody  will  excuse  you. 
This  is  the  one  day  of  the  year  when  you  are 
not  to  work.  Let  me  go."  So  Clara  went  out. 
And  after  Clara  went  out,  the  door-bells  rang 
no  more.  I  think  there  were  still  steps  in  the 
hall.  She  came  back,  and  said  a  man  was  in 
quiring  his  way  to  the  "  Smells  ;  "  and  they  di 
rected  him  to  "  Wait's  Mills,"  which  she  hoped 
would  do.  And  so  Huldah's  and  Grace's  stu 
pendous  housekeeping  went  on  in  its  solid  or 
der,  reminding  one  of  those  well-proportioned 
Worcester  teas,  which  are,  perhaps,  the  crown 
and  glory  of  the  New-England  science  in  this 
matter.  I  ventured  to  ask  Sam  Root,  who  sat 
by  me,  if  the  Marlborough  tarts  were  not  equal 
to  his  mother's. 

And  we  sat  long  ;  and  we  laughed  loud.     We 


248      HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH    CLUBS. 

talked  war,  and  poetry,  and  genealogy.  We 
rallied  Helen  Touro  about  her  housekeeping  ; 
and  Dr.  Worcester  pretended  to  give  a  list  of 
surgeons  and  majors  and  major-generals  who 
had  made  love  to  Huldah.  By-and-by,  when 
the  grapes  and  the  bonbons  came,  the  sixteen 
children  were  led  in  by  Maria  Munroe,  who 
had,  till  now,  kept  them  at  games  of  string  and 
hunt  the  slipper.  And,  at  last,  Seth  Corbet 
flung  open  the  door  into  the  red  parlor,  to  an 
nounce  "  The  Tree." 

Sure  enough,  there  was  the  tree,  as  the  five 
saints  had  prepared  it  for  the  invited  chil 
dren,  —  glorious  in  gold,  and  white  with  wreaths 
of  snowflakes,  and  blazing  with  candles.  Sam 
Root  kissed  Grace,  and  said,  "  O  Grace  !  do  you 
remember?  "  But  the  tree  itself  did  not  surprise 
the  children  as  much  as  the  five  tables  at  the 
right  and  the  left,  behind  and  before,  amazed 
the  Sainted  Five,  who  were  indeed  the  children 
now.  A  box  of  the  vin  rouge  de  Bourgogne, 
from  Louis,  was  the  first  thing  my  eye  lighted 
on,  and  above  it  a  little  banner  read  :  "•  Huldah's 
table.  "  And  then  I  saw  that  these  five  tables 
were  heaped  with  the  Christmas  offerings  to  the 


STAND   AND    WAIT.  249 

five  saints.  It  proved  that  everybody,  the 
world  over,  had  heard  that  they  had  settled 
down.  Everybody  in  the  four  hemispheres, 
if  there  be  four,  who  had  remembered  the  un 
selfish  service  of  these  five,  had  thought  this  a 
fit  time  for  commemorating  such  unselfish  love, 
were  it  only  by  such  a  present  as  a  lump  of  coal. 
Almost  everybody,  I  think,  had  made  Seth  Cor 
bet  a  confidant ;  and  so,  while  the  five  saints 
were  planning  their  pretty  tree  for  the  sixteen 
children,  the  North  and  the  South,  and  the  East 
and  the  West,  were  sending  myrrh  and  frank 
incense  and  gold  to  them.  The  pictures  were 
hung  with  Southern  pine  from  Barthew.  Boys, 
who  were  now  men,  had  sent  coral  from  India, 
pearl  from  Ceylon  ;  and  would  have  been  glad  to 
send  ice  from  Greenland,  had  Christmas  come 
in  midsummer.  There  were  diamonds  from 
Brazil,  and  silver  from  Nevada,  from  those  who 
lived  there  ;  there  were  books,  in  the  choicest 
binding,  in  memory  of  copies  of  the  same  word, 
worn  by  travel,  or  dabbled  in  blood ;  there 
were  pictures,  either  by  the  hand  of  near  friend 
ship,  or  by  the  master-hand  of  genius,  which 
brought  back  the  memories,  perhaps,  of  some 


250     HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH  CLUBS. 

old  adventure  in  "  The  Service,"  —  perhaps,  as 
the  Kaulbach  did,  of  one  of  those  histories 
which  makes  all  service  sacred.  In  five-and- 
tvventy  years  of  life,  these  women  had  so  sur 
rounded  themselves,  without  knowing  it  or 
thinking  of  it,  with  loyal,  yes,  adoring  friends, 
that  the  accident  of  their  finding  a  fixed  home 
had  called  in  all  at  once  this  wealth  of  acknowl 
edgment  from  those  whom  they  might  have  for 
gotten,  but  who  would  never,  forget  them. 
And,  by  the  accident  of  our  coming  together, 
we  saw,  in  these  heaps  on  heaps  of  offerings  of 
love,  some  faint  record  of  the  lives  they  had  en 
livened,  the  wounds  they  had  stanched,  the 
tears  they  had  wiped  away,  and  the  homes  they 
had  cheered.  For  themselves,  the  five  saints, 
as  I  have  called  them,  were  laughing  and  cry 
ing  together,  quite  upset  in  the  surprise.  For 
ourselves,  there  was  not  one  of  us  who,  in  this 
little  visible  display  of  the  range  of  years  of 
service,  did  not  take  in  something  more  of  the 
meaning  of,  — 

"  He  who  will  be  chief  among  you,  let  him  be 
your  servant.  " 

The    surprise,  the    excitement,  the   laughter, 


STAND   AND   WAIT.  251 

and  the  tears  found  vent  in  the  children's  eager 
ness  to  be  led  to  their  tree  ;  and,  in  three  min 
utes  Ellen  was  opening  boxes,  and  Huldah  pull 
ing  fire-crackers,  as  if  they  had  not  been  thrown 
off  their  balance.  But  when  each  boy  and  girl 
had  two  arras  full,  and  the  fir-balsam  sent  down 
from  New  Durham  was  nearly  bare,  Edgar 
Bartlett  pointed  to  the  top  bough,  where  was  a 
brilliant  not  noticed  before.  No  one  had  no 
ticed  it,  —  not  Seth  himself,  who  had  most  of 
the  other  secrets  of  that  house  in  his  possession. 
I  am  sure  that  no  man,  woman,  or  child  knew 
how  the  thing  came  there  ;  but  Seth  lifted  the 
little  discoverer  high  in  air,  and  he  brought  it 
down  triumphant.  It  was  a  parcel  made  up  in 
shining  silvered  paper.  Seth  cut  the  strings. 

It  contained  twelve  Maltese  crosses  of  gold, 
with  as  many  jewels,  one  in  the  heart  of  each,  — 
I  think,  the  blazing  twelve  of  the  Revelations. 
They  were  displayed  on  ribbons  of  blue  and 
white,  six  of  which  bore  Huldah's,  Helen's,  El 
len  Philbrick's,  Hannah's,  Miss  Peters's,  and 
Seth  Corbet's  names.  The  other  six  had  no 
names  ;  but  on  the  gold  of  these  was  marked : 
"  From  Huldah,  to "  "  From  Helen,  to 


252     HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH  CLUBS. 

"  and  so  on,  as  if  these  were  decorations 

which  they  were  to  pass  along.  The  saints 
themselves  were  the  last  to  understand  the  deco 
rations  ;  but  the  rest  of  us  caught  the  idea,  and 
pinned  them  on  their  breasts.  As  we  did  so 
the  ribbons  unfolded,  and  displayed  the  motto  of 
the  order :  — 

"  Henceforth  I  call  you  not  servants ;  I  have 
called  you  friends." 

It  was  at  that  Christmas  that  the  ORDER  OF 
LOVING  SERVICE  was  born. 


I  NEVER  supposed  that  the  fancy  of  Club  or 
ganization,  as  conceived  in  the  story,  would  be 
practically  carried  out.  But  Miss  Ella  Russell 
of  New  York  at  once  read  the  story  to  some 
boys  in  a  mission  school,  and  formed  from  them 
the  Club  of 

HARRY  WADSWORTH  HELPERS. 

It  is,  so  far  as  I  know,  the  first  of  the  long  series 
of  Wadsworth  Clubs.  Of  this  club  Miss  Russell 
gives  this  history :  *'  The  boys,  from  thirteen  to 


HARRY    WADSWORTH    HELPERS.  253 

sixteen  years  old,  felt  that  they  were  too  old  to 
go  to  any  mission  school ;  but  the  idea  of  a  club 
to  meet  Sunday  afternoons,  officered  by  them 
selves,  seemed  a  more  grown-up  affair.  I  had 
read  them  the  story  of  Harry  Wads  worth,  with 
which  they  were  delighted ;  and,  as  the  class 
was  ten  in  number,  they  decided  to  call  them 
selves  The  Harry  Wadsworth  Helpers,  to 
adopt  the  four  mottoes,  and  to  see  what  they 
could  do  to  '  lend  a  hand.'  They  were  to  meet 
each  week  at  the  Sunday-school  rooms,  joining 
first  with  the  school  in  the  general  exercises, 
then  having  their  own  order  of  proceedings. 
They  had  an  initiation-fee,  of  ten  cents,  I  be 
lieve,  and  monthly  dues,  besides  fines,  &c.  The 
secretary  kept  a  large  book,  and  each  member 
pledged  himself  to  do  some  special  thing  each 
week  '  to  help  some  one ; '  and  on  Sundays  all 
these  were  given  and  recorded  in  the  book. 
Two  of  the  boys  devoted  themselves  to  pick 
ing  up  drunken  men  in  the  street,  finding  out 
where  they  lived,  and  taking  them  home. 
Some  read  to  a  hopelessly  deformed  boy  who 
could  not  sit  up,  and  so  on.  Every  two 
months  the  money  collected  was  spent  by 


254     HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH   CLUBS. 

the   boys  themselves  in  relieving  some  case  of 
special  distress. 

"  The  boys  now  are  men,  and,  though  widely 
scattered,  are  nearly  all  doing  well.  Only  yes 
terday  I  received  a  letter  from  one  who  has 
been  for  several  years  in  the  Black  Hills." 

In  one  of  the  old  numbers  of  the  "  From  Year 
to  Year  "  I  heard  of  similar  organizations. 

In  the  beginning  of  1871,  I  had  the  list  of 
some  fifty  persons,  in  different  parts  of  the 
world,  who  called  themselves,  more  or  less  defi 
nitely,  Harry  Wadsworth  People.  Every  two  or 
three  months  perhaps,  from  that  time,  for  several 
years,  I  would  get  a  letter  from  one  or  another 
of  them,  perhaps  asking  advice  for  the  formation 
of  a  club,  perhaps  sending  me  an  anecdote  of 
some  act  of  heroism  or  help.  In  answer  to 
questions  about  the  forming  of  clubs,  I  have 
always  said  that  "the  less  fuss  and  feathers" 
the  better ;  that  all  the  idea  I  had  of  a  Wads- 
worth  Club  was,  that  it  should  be  made  of 
unselfish  people,  —  who  met,  not  for  "  mutual 
improvement,"  but  with  some  definite  plan  for 
the  other  people. 

I  know  not  why, — >  but  this  book,  "  Ten  Times 


HARRY   WADSWORTH    HELPERS.  255 

One  is  Ten,"  very  soon  had  an  entree  into  pris 
ons.  I  have,  I  suppose,  a  dozen  letters,  from 
different  sources,  telling  me  of  the  pleasure  pris 
oners  have  taken  in  it.  One  of  the  clubs  is  one 
of  young  ladies,  who  have  circulated  it  in  large 
numbers,  in  prisons.  Until  last  summer  I  should 
have  said  that  this  was  as  important  a  club  in 
size  as  any. 

I  think  the  Ten  Times  One  Club,  of  West- 
field,  Massachusetts,  was  the  largest  of  these 
organizations;  is  it  so  still?  In  1874  Miss  Mary 
A.  Lathbury,  without  having  then  seen  the 
book  which  the  reader  has  in  his  hands,  pro 
posed  the  establishment  of  the  Look-Up  Legion, 
with  the  four  mottoes,  which  she  had  seen  on 
the  frieze  of  a  friend's  parlor  in  Orange.  This 
Legion  extends  through  five  hundred  or  more 
Sunday-schools.  Their  object  is  expressed  in 
this  general  order:  — 

LOOK-UP  LEGION. 

THE  Look-Up  Legion  is  a  society  carried  on 
through  the  Bay  Window  Department  of  "The 
Sunday-School  Advocate,"  and  having  a  member 
ship  of  over  three  thousand  boys  and  girls.  Its 
object  is  to  aid  in  building  up  true  character,  and 


256     HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH  CLUBS. 

in  scattering  the  light  of  unselfish  lives.  Its  mem 
bers  pledge  themselves  to  be  "  truthful,  unselfish, 
cheerful,  hopeful,  and  helpful."  They  adopt  the 
famous  Wadsworth  mottoes,  found  in  "  Ten  Times 
One  is  Ten,"  by  Rev.  E.  E.  Hale:  — 

"  Look  up  and  not  down  ; 
Look  out  and  not  in ; 
Look  forward  and  not  back, 
and  Lend  a  hand." 

Persons  may  become  members  of  this  society  by 
sending  their  names  to  "The  Sunday-School  Advo 
cate  ; "  this  proves  their  willingness  to  subscribe  to 
the  pledge. 

Local  chapters  or  clubs  have  been  formed  in 
many  places,  and  it  is  hoped  that  this  will  be  done 
wherever  practicable.  Weekly  or  semi-monthly 
meetings  are  recommended,  and  some  line  of  work, 
adapted  to  the  locality,  may  be  carried  on  through 
these  meetings. 

Reports  from  all  such  clubs  will  be  welcomed  at 
the  office  of  "  The  Sunday-School  Advocate."  A 
beautiful  badge  of  nickel  plate,  in  the  form  of  a 
Maltese  cross,  bearing  the  four  mottoes,  will  be 
sent  on  receipt  of  fifteen  cents.  Pledge-cards  at 
three  cents  each. 

MARTHA  VAN  MAETER. 

Miss  Van  Marter  is  the  corresponding  secre 
tary  of  the  first  division  of  the  Legion ;  her 
address  is  Orange,  New  Jersey. 


WELCOME   AND   CORRESPONDENCE   CLUBS.      257 

In  the  summer  of  1881  I  met  the  first  divi 
sion  of  the  Legion  at  its  anniversary  meeting. 
Then  was  established  the  system  of  circular 
correspondence  —  which  has  been  kept  up  ever 
since.  Any  person  or  club  who  wishes  to  enter 
into  this  correspondence  must  send  fifty  cents 
subscription  to  the 

WELCOME  AND  CORRESPONDENCE  CLUB, 

39  Highland  Street,  Roxbury,  Mass. 

To  such  club  or  person  will  be  sent  the 
Monthly  Circular,  containing  letters  from  the 
several  organizations.  From  the  Circular  of 
the  first  year  I  copy  here  a  few  of  these 
reports. 


FLOWER  AND  FRUIT  MISSION. 

THE  work  of  our  Flower  Mission  differs  some 
what  from  that  in  larger  cities ;  for  we  visit  the 
invalids  hi  their  homes,  more  than  in  hospitals 
and  other  charitable  institutions ;  and,  not  having 
so  many,  we  can  devote  more  time  to  each,  and 
become  better  acquainted  with  them.  The  young 
ladies  who  do  not  dare  to  undertake  work  of  greater 
responsibility  succeed  admirably  in  this  charity; 

17 


258     HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH  CLUBS. 

and  it  has  always  seemed  to  me,  that,  however  re 
freshing  these  visits  are  to  the  aged  and  sick,  the 
visitors  themselves  derive  the  greater  benefit  from 
them  in  the  lessons  of  patience  and  cheerfulness 
which  are  often  so  forcibly  impressed  upon  them. 
Our  Fruit  and  Flower  Mission  was  started  more 
than  twelve  years  ago,  in  connection  with  our  Un 
ion  for  Good  Works,  and  is  still  going  on  quietly 
and  successfully ;  and  others  have  been  formed 
since  in  different  churches.  The  names  of  the  per 
sons  we  were  to  visit  were  given  to  us  by  the  Re 
lief  Committee  of  the  Union,  whom  we  consulted 
when  new  ones  were  suggested,  and  to  whom  we 
gave  a  monthly  report  of  our  work.  I  think  it  is 
still  carried  on  in  the  same  way ;  but,  as  I  was 
obliged  to  give  up  my  part  of  the  work  some  time 
ago,  I  am  not  quite  sure.  We  had  a  committee  of 
sixteen  young  ladies,  eight  of  whom  visited  each 
week,  two  usually  going  together.  One  from  each 
committee  of  eight  was  appointed  to  give  to  each 
the  names  of  those  she  should  visit,  keep  the  ac 
counts,  and  divide  the  small  sum  of  money  with 
which  we  bought  fruit  and  delicacies  when  they 
were  not  contributed.  Each  one  made  about  six 
visits,  which  was  all  we  could  do  while  the  flowers 
were  fresh  in  the  hot  weather  ;  and  each  sent  her  re 
port  to  our  secretary,  to  be  copied  into  the  book  to 
which  we  always  referred  before  making  our  next 
visit.  We  became  so  interested  in  our  patients 
that  we  could  not  give  them  up  when  the  flower 
contributions  ceased,  and  have  always  kept  up  our 


PIONEER  LEGION   WORK.  259 

visiting  through  the  winter,. taking  fruit  and  little 
delicacies,  but  avoiding  all  almsgiving. 

Many  of  us  have  formed  life-long  friendships,  for 
which  we  shall  always  be  grateful  to  the  Flowed 
Mission. 


PIONEER  LEGION  WORK. 


IT  affords  me  pleasure  to  become  a  correspondent 
of,  and  a  subscriber  to,  your  circulars  on  behalf  of 
the  Look-Up  Legion  of  this  place.  We  live  in  a 
lumbering  district,  and  our  advantages  are  few  com 
pared  with  our  city  sisters.  Yet  we  enjoy  other 
benefits  which  they  cannot.  We  have  a  grand  pan 
orama  of  evergreen-clad  mountains,  valleys  rapidly 
being  reclaimed  from  their  wild  state,  and  the  lim 
pid  streams  reflecting  the  beauties  from  their  crystal 
depths.  Pure  air  and  pure  water  render  living  a 
delight;  and  what  more  natural  in  such  surround 
ings  than  that  morality  should  gain  many  friends? 
The  spirit  of  charity,  which  has  never  allowed  a 
poor-tax  to  be  levied  in  this  township,  finally  took 
definite  shape  in  the  form  of  a  band  consisting  of 
twenty  young  ladies,  from  fifteen  to  twenty-one 
years  old,  who,  being  rather  prejudiced  against 
the  word  Club,  took  the  name  and  pledge  of  the 
"Look-Up  Legion."  Since  the  1st  of  October  last 
they  have  met  once  a  week  in  the  afternoon,  and 


260     HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH  CLUBS. 

sewed.  They  made  a  number  of  useful  articles,  such 
as  aprons,  children's  dresses,  bags  for  school-books, 
dressed  dolls,  &c.  Then  the  week  before  Christmas 
they  held  a  fair  and  festival,  the  net  profits  being  $50. 
With  this  sum  and  other  donations,  they  purchased  a 
library  of  carefully  selected  books.  The  Look-Up 
Legion  are  members,  and  any  one  else  can  become 
a  member  by  paying  one  dollar,  and  quarterly  fees 
of  twenty-five  cents.  Latterly  the  Legion  has  not 
been  meeting,  on  account  of  its  members  being 
mostly  in  school,  and  their  leisure  time  is  limited. 
They  secured  the  services  of  an  eminent  minister  to 
lecture  on  London,  which  great  city  he  had  re 
cently  visited.  Other  lectures  are  in  reserve;  so 
that  the  little  band  is  a  leaven  that  will  very  soon, 
God  prospering  them,  leaven  the  whole  lump  of 
surrounding  society.  They  are  ready  for  any  good 
work  that  calls  them,  and  will  be  glad  to  read  of 
the  doings  of  other  organizations,  which  may  help 
to  decide  their  future  course. 

N.  N. 

A  GIRLS'  LEGION.— HOW  ABOUT  BOYS? 


THE  club  of  which  I  am  chief  (if  that  be  my 
position)  calls  itself  the  Lend-a-Hand  Club.  It 
numbers  between  forty  and  fifty  members,  all  girls. 
Some  boys  wish  to  join,  but  I  have  not  yet  seen 
clearly  the  best  way  to  receive  them.  I  will  ask 
the  Correspondence  Club  what  I  shall  do  with  the 


A   GIRLS*  LEGION.  261 

boys,  under  the  circumstances,  after  being  freely 
told  what  the  girls  do.  Our  club  meets  at  my  house 
once  in  two  weeks,  Monday,  at4j  o'clock,  P.M.,  so 
as  not  to  interfere  with  school ;  and  continues  in 
session  one  hour,  so  as  to  get  home  before  dark. 
We  sew  or  work  on  anything  we  have  to  do  the 
first  half-hour  of  our  session  ;  and  the  other  half  we 
devote  to  literary  exercises,  such  as  reading  and 
recitations  and  music.  Short  original  essays  are 
coaxed  from  the  girls ;  and  we  have  an  exercise  we 
call  Oddities,  which  consists  of  something  original 
and  funny,  arranged  by  a  committee  selected  the 
week  before,  and  kept  a  secret  from  the  other  mem 
bers  of  the  club  till  it  is  brought  out  at  the  meeting. 
Sometimes  it  takes  the  form  of  a  tableau,  sometimes 
a  charade.  Always  it  proves  very  interesting.  As 
for  useful  work,  the  girls  are  of  ages  from  ten  to  fif 
teen  years,  and  know  less  about  sewing  than  their 
grandmothers  did  at  their  age,  no  doubt ;  but  they 
bring  such  eager,  willing  hearts  to  the  task,  they 
accomplish  a  good  deal.  In  November  we  sent  a 
large  box  of  clothing,  and  articles  suitable  for 
Christmas  presents,  to  a  missionary  in  Utah. 

The  girls  hold  themselves  in  readiness  to  do  any 
kindly  deed  they  may  be  asked  to  do.  Sometimes, 
when  a  beggar  calls  at  my  door,  I  send  two  or  three 
of  the  girls  to  find  out  about  the  family.  If  they 
live  in  our  town,  and  if  they  are  found  needy,  we 
attend  to  their  wants  as  far  as  possible. 

We  have  been  organized  only  a  year,  and  had  a 
long  vacation  of  four  months  in  the  summer,  and 


262     HARRY  WADSWORTH  AND  WADSWORTH  CLUBS. 

are  having  another  this  winter,  while  the  days  are 
short,  so  that  our  work  has  been  interrupted.  We 
have  bed-quilts  and  tidies  and  rugs  commenced, 
which  we  hope  to  see  finished.  Dressing  dolls  for 
hospital  children  would  be  rather  our  delight,  if  we 
knew  just  the  best  way  to  dispose  of  them.  Our 
city  is  rather  too  small  for  our  benevolence.  We 
have  a  constitution  and  by-laws,  a  president, 
vice-president,  secretary,  and  treasurer.  We  have 
a  membership-fee  of  ten  cents,  payable  yearly,  and  a 
contribution  of  a  penny  each  at  every  meeting. 


University  Press  :  John  Wilson  &  Son,  Cambridge. 


The  Man  Without  a  Country 

BY 

EDWARD  EVERETT  HALE 


New  Edition*  With  a  preface  giving  an  account  of  the 
circumstances  and  incidents  of  its  publication,  and  a 
new  introduction  by  the  author  in  the  year  of  the  war 
with  Spain.  i6mo.  Cloth.  50  cents. 

Illustrated  Edition,  With  forty  pictures  by  Frank  T. 
Merrill.  Square  8vo.  Cloth.  75  cents. 

The  Story  of  the  Man  without  a  Country  will  be  remem 
bered  and  read  as  long  as  the  American  flag  flies,  and  it  will 
continue  to  do  good  to  successive  generations  of  young 
Americans.  .  .  .  What  a  splendid  work  of  imagination  and 
patriotism  that  story  is  !  Its  theme  is  vital,  and  consequently 
its  influence  is  perennial.  —  New  York  Sun  {Editorial). 

It  is  so  full  of  a  lofty  patriotism,  so  full  of  subtle  sug 
gestions  that  would  mean  nothing  to  a  foreigner  but  that 
move  our  hearts  strangely,  that  to  read  it  is  to  grow  prouder 
than  ever  of  the  country  and  the  flag. —  Cincinnati  Com 
mercial  Gazette, 


The  moral  of  the  story  may  be  found  in  Nolan's  own  pitiful 
words  to  a  young  sailor :  "  And  for  your  country,  boy,  and  for  that 
flag,  never  dream  a  dream  but  of  serving  her  as  she  bids  you,  though 
the  service  carry  you  through  a  thousand  hells.  No  matter  what 
happens  to  you,  no  matter  who  flatters  you  or  who  abuses  you,  never 
look  at  another  flag,  never  let  a  night  pass  but  you  pray  God  to  bless 
that  flag.  Remember,  boy,  that  behind  all  these  men  you  have  to  do 
with,  behind  officers  and  government  and  people  even,  there  is  the 
country  herself,  your  country,  and  that  you  belong  to  her  as  you 
belong  to  your  own  mother." 


LITTLE,   BROWN,   fef    COMPANY,   Publishers 
254   WASHINGTON    STREET,    BOSTON,    MASS. 


ERNEST     KENAN'S     WRITINGS 

HISTORY  OF  THE  PEOPLE  OF 
ISRAEL.  5  vols.  8vo.  $12.50.  Separate 
volumes,  $2.50  each. 

Vol.  I.  Till  the  Time  of  King  David.  Vol.  II.  From  the 
Reign  of  David  up  to  the  Capture  of  Samaria.  Vol.  III. 
From  the  Time  of  Hezekiah  till  the  Return  from  Babylon. 
Vol.  IV.  From  the  Rule  of  the  Persians  to  that  of  the 
Greeks.  Vol.  V.  Period  of  Jewish  Independence  and  Judea 
under  Roman  Rule.  With  an  index  to  the  five  volumes. 

The  first  two  volumes  contain  the  analysis  of  the  events 
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trate  the  course  of  the  prophetical  ideas,  steadily  making 
their  way,  despite  constantly  recurring  backsets,  till  their  final 
triumph  in  Jesus.  Nothing  that  he  has  done  reveals  the 
brilliancy  of  his  mind  and  the  greatness  of  his  intellectual 
grasp  as  does  this  monument,  which  he  was  fortunately 
permitted  to  finish  before  his  life  came  to  an  end. 

THE  APOSTLES  :  Including  the  period  from 
the  death  of  Jesus  until  the  greater  missions  of 
Paul.  Translated  and  edited  by  JOSEPH  HENRY 
ALLEN,  D.D.,  late  lecturer  on  Ecclesiastical  His 
tory  in  Harvard  University.  8vo.  $2.50. 

ANTICHRIST.  Translated  and  edited  by  JOSEPH 
HENRY  ALLEN.  8vo.  $2.50. 

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final  French  edition.  With  Notes.  Revised  and 
enlarged.  8vo.  $2.50. 

THE  FUTURE  OF  SCIENCE.    Demy  8vo. 

$2.50. 

LITTLE,  BROWN,  AND  COMPANY,  Publishers 
254  Washington  Street,  Boston,  Massachusetts. 


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